Gabriel Enenche —

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has inspected the ongoing building projects at the Stella Obasanjo Hospital, including the hospital’s In-patient Wing, expressing confidence that the facility will promote the state as a destination for medical tourism.

Obaseki, who was accompanied on the tour by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Obehi Akoria; Commissioner for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, Isoken Omo, and other top government functionaries, said the Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EDOHIS) is the only platform to access services in the medical facility.

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“We are doing all of this because of our experience with COVID-19. In my second term, I promised Edo people that in addition to all our several reforms, we will make Edo a medical hub. That is what this is about,” Obaseki said.

“We have a medical school that has produced hundreds of medical doctors in the last 50 years. We have the requisite manpower in this environment but what doesn’t exist is world-class facilities with the kind of equipment needed to care for patients. What we are doing here is to revamp this facility, re-modernize and equip it with the state-of-the-art equipment that exists in the best hospitals across the world,” he said.

The governor said people do not need to leave Edo State for other medical destinations to get the best of care as most of that care can and will be provided in the state from November this year.

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He said EDOHIS has been set up to ensure a more robust financing arrangement that ensures everyone has equal access to the best services.

“To make it affordable, we have put in place a financing arrangement through EDOHIS. You don’t need to pay cash out of your pocket as long as you subscribe to our health insurance scheme. You just come in with your card and get care,” he added.

The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akoria, said the Governor Obaseki-led administration is revamping the health sector.

“This administration has built an Out-Patient Department that will provide high end services in ear, nose and throats, neurology, endocrinology, dental services, antenatal and other related services, as well as physiotherapy. This is the only hydrotherapy facility in the South-South region of Nigeria,” the commissioner said.

“The In-Patient Department has also been upgraded so that rather than an open ward, we now have en-suite wards so that people have more privacy and there will be a way to monitor all the patients as patient experience becomes better than what it used to be.”