The Ogoni Specialist Hospital, a flagship project of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), is nearing completion, with construction currently at 78.2%.
The hospital is set to transform healthcare in Ogoniland, providing quality, specialized medical services to the community and beyond.
A 14-man Technical Planning Committee, led by Professor Christie Mato, has submitted a comprehensive report outlining key recommendations for the hospital’s operationalization.
These include proposals for governance structure, funding strategy, power sources, waste management, and environmental protection.
According to professor Nenibarini Zabbey, Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) the report received from the Professor Christie Mato led 14-man Technical Planning Committee for the Operationalisation of the 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital.
The report emphasizes that the hospital will address long-neglected environmental damage and health effects in Ogoni, filling significant gaps in specialist healthcare services.
The facility will operate as a referral hub, reducing the burden of accessing distant urban tertiary medical services.
The Report made key positions and recommendations including, legal framework, governance structure, operational model, scope of services and human resources.
Other recommendations are funding strategy, power sources, waste management and environmental protection and Monitoring & Evaluation.
Professor Mato said the overarching target of the Report is to ensure the sustainable operationalisation of the OSH, and foster access to quality health care for the Ogoni people.
The Report emphasises that the conceptualisation and establishment of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital by HYPREP is a crucial step towards addressing the long-neglected environmental damage and its health effects in Ogoni, adding that the initiative will fill the significant gaps in specialist healthcare services in the region and beyond.
Commending the Committee for a detailed report, Prof. Zabbey stated that the Ogoni Specialist Hospital will significantly enhance the public health landscape in Ogoni, providing quality healthcare services to the people and vital infrastructure that will improve health outcomes and save lives.
”Alongside the ongoing construction of the Buan Cottage Hospital, the human biomonitoring study, the strengthening of hospitals and health centres, regular medical outreaches, and the planned distribution of ambulances to medical facilities, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital represents a strategic effort by HYPREP to address the longstanding health services gap, in line with UNEP’s recommendations for Ogoniland”
He assured that the Project Coordination Office will promptly forward the report to the Governing Council for its approval, adding that the Project will take appropriate steps, in collaboration with relevant partners to implement the recommendations in the overall public interest.
Prof Zabbey called on all Ogoni communities to continue to support the Federal Government’s efforts through HYPREP by protecting the critical infrastructure, including the specialist hospital being provided for their benefits.
The objective of the project is to provide accessible, high-quality healthcare services to Ogoniland residents.
HYPREP’s efforts are part of a broader initiative to restore environmental damage and improve public health in Ogoniland, in line with UNEP recommendations.
