The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has begun the inauguration of Phase 1 projects in its multi-billion naira Hospital Support Programme (NLNG HSP) with the opening of a maternity centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in Gwagwalada.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, hailed the NLNG for the partnership and commitment to raising the level of healthcare delivery in the country.
Ehanire, who was represented by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr. B. O. Alonge, noted that NLNG’s contribution of a Modern Maternity and Child Centre at UATH was in line with the principles of universal health coverage.
The minister called for more partnerships in the sector to fill gaps in healthcare delivery.
The company is also set to inaugurate new Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Gynecology Ward at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and a Neurosurgical and Stroke Centre at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
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The newly inaugurated UATH’s Maternity Centre has a 10-bed delivery suite, a 10-bed post-natal ward, two operating theatres, 10-bed Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), consulting rooms, doctors’ and nurses’ rooms, a laboratory, a pharmacy, medical records office, a Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) system, ultrasound scan room and other administrative offices.
NLNG’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Philip Mshelbila said the programme was conceived following the company’s COVID-19 intervention and its concern over the increasing pressure on the healthcare facilities in the country.
Mshelbila said: “First hand, we have seen how investment in the Health sector can change the face of healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
“We contributed significantly to fighting COVID-19 through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other oil and gas industry partners COVID-19 Intervention Programme by donating numerous intensive care medical equipment to medical facilities across the country.
“At the Federal Medical Centre in Yola, for instance, the equipment came in handy for the successful separation of a set of conjoined twins.
“This feat brought us at NLNG a lot of satisfaction as we saw the impact that our donation made in the lives of those innocent children and others who would utilise the equipment. We believe we can expand this impact by investing more in facilities across the country.”
Dignitaries at the event included NLNG’s Deputy Managing Director Olalekan Ogunleye; the Chief Medical Director at UATH, Professor Bissallah Ekele; the General Manager of External Relations and Sustainable Development Mr. Andy Odeh, among others.