UniAbuja Seeks Improved Funding for Trauma Centre

Dr Peter Alabi, Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), on Monday called for improved funding to complete the hospital’s trauma centre project.

Alabi made the call in Gwagwalada when members of the Senate Committee on Health, led by its Chairman, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, visited the hospital as part of its oversight function.

The CMD said space constraint for trauma cases had been a major challenge facing the hospital, adding that the completion of the project would address the problem.

“We need adequate funding for the completion of the trauma centre project so that we can accommodate the number of patients coming to the hospital to seek health care services.

“We also need a lot of support in terms of modernisation of equipment in the hospital because the hospital was a specialist hospital before it was converted to a teaching hospital about five years ago.

“The hospital has not really had any major intervention in terms of take-off grant or intervention fund since the conversion,” he said.

Alabi said the trauma centre was about 75 per cent completed but added that about N123 million was needed to finish the construction work.

According to him, from the need assessment carried out on the project, about N750 million will be needed to equip the centre to make it fully functional to serve Nigerians.

``Appropriation for the fund has been done and the difficulty we have now is about the release of the fund, and as I speak to you we have only got  about 18 per cent of what is appropriated for 2013 capital expenditure for the hospital,” he said.

In his remark, Okowa expressed satisfaction with the level and quality of work being executed by the hospital, adding that the project was important considering the strategic location of the institution.

He said the fund required for the completion of the project had been appropriated by the committee in the hospital’s budget for the year.

``For us as committee members, we have done our beat to provide for full completion of the project in 2013 budget and we are hoping that all the funds will be released to ensure that the project is completed this year.

``We are very impressed with the standard of work being executed by the local contractor handling the project and as committee, we will put some pressure by writing to the Ministry of Finance for speedy release of the needed funds,” he pledged.