Vice President Kashim Shettima has inaugurated a 150-bed capacity child and adolescent institute at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), as part of events to mark the hospital’s 40th anniversary.
Shettima also inaugurated a hall and laid foundation for Bola Tinubu ICT Centre and Prof. Jibril Aminu Heart Centre in the hospital on Sunday.
Speaking at the occasion, Shettima lauded the hospital for the transformation recorded and commitment to its mandate of training, service delivery and research.
Represented by Dr Salma Anas, the Special Adviser to the President on Health, he renewed Tinubu’s administration commitment to healthcare reform defined by Universal Health Coverage.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno also lauded the developments recorded by the hospital and stressed the need for sustainability.
The Chairman of the occasion and former Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, described the achievements recorded by the hospital as signed of good leadership by the management.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo, said the hospital was officially opened as teaching hospital by the then President Shehu Shagari on July 23, 1983.
“The hospital serves more than 33 million people in North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States, as well as residents of the adjoining Cameroon, Niger and Chad Republics.
“The UMTH is now a 1,200-bed facility spread across 22 wards. It has school of nursing and five other institutions.
“Also, its Radiology Department hosts the Regional Ultrasound Training Centre for West Africa, in collaboration with Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute, Philadelphia USA.
“The hospital pioneered the establishment of Interventional Radiology in West Africa,” Ahidjo said.
According to him, the hospital has a fully equipped Cancer Centre which he described as the largest in the whole of West Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the one-week event marking the 40th anniversary of the hospital rounded up on Sunday, with medical outreach, special prayers, career guidance, public lectures and award night.
