By Disun Amosun
As stakeholders at a public hearing yesterday backed a bill for the establishment of an Orthopaedic Hospital in Billiri Gombe state, the House of Representatives also gave its full backing to the project coming fruition to serve the North East geopolitical zone.
Speaker House of Representatives, the Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen stated this position when he declared the public hearing by the Committee on Specialty Healthcare open, and then called for quality submissions and recommendations that will ensure the bill sees the light of the day.
The bill seeks to amend the Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board to provide for the establishment of Orthopaedic Hospital, Biliri Gombe State.
The Speaker noted the relevance of special health institutions such as Orthopaedic, eye, nose and throat, and others established across the Geopolitical zones in the country for better tertiary health delivery Nationwide.
In their contributions, other stakeholders and I expressed their support at the hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Healthcare in Abuja.
In his remarks, the Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Habu Dahirumbbs who represented the state governor on the occasion said with only one tertiary health institution, the state need the Orthopaedic hospital to service other states in the North-East zone.
According to him, the population has outgrown the facility due to high influx of people from the neighbouring states as a result of insurgency in the North East sub-region.
“Billiri the headquarters of Billiri LGA, the proposed location of the orthopedic hospital is strategically located on the highway”
Dahirumbbs said that if the orthopedic hospital is approved in Billiri, it will provide millions of people with rapid access to highest quality care and lifelong learning in health.
Earlier, Chairman House Committee on Specialty Healthcare Rep. Alex Egbona (APC- Cross River) said that the bill seeks to amend the Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board Act.
He said that the aim is to provide for the establishment of the orthopaedic hospital Billiri, Gombe state to be affiliated to the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe state to provide specialised orthopaedic treatment and medical services.
