Eku Baptist Hospital

Eku Baptist Government Hospital was sick and near death. That was how Professor Uvie Igun, a former Vice Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka captured the state of the hospital in Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state, prior to the turnaround of the medical facility by the administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The governor’s passion for quality healthcare services and up-to-date medical facilities in Delta State is one thing many people in Delta State have come to terms with. His quest for developmental projects that touch the lives of the people and his background as a medical doctor are the major driving force. For what he has done at Eku Baptist Government Hospital as it is now called the people of Delta State will always remember the Uduaghan days.

Long before his government took the initiative to renovate and turn around the hospital in 2009 it was under the management of Baptist missionaries for well over 65 years. The hospital was later handed over to the community people but they couldn’t run it, hence the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the Eku community appealed for government intervention. The revival of the hospital brings to six, the number of central hospitals in Delta State. So far, the government has expended over N2 billion on the turnaround of the hospital.

The hospital now has 16-slice Computed Tomography, CT-Scan, a modern tool for the diagnoses of head and spinal injuries, lung and liver diseases, cancer, tumors, blood clots, internal bleeding and several other ailments. The hospital also has an ultra- modern dental unit and laboratory equipment. It is a 150-bed hospital, comprising maternity ward, male and female wards, pediatrics and private wards. There are additional 20 wards in the accident and emergency complex as well as the hospital mortuary. “If you go to Eku Government Baptist Hospital, it is like you are in any hospital in London. We are currently doing a lot of infrastructural work and we are bringing in equipment to make hospital close to what we have in Oghara,” said Dr. Joseph Otumara, Commissioner for Health.

To ensure that that the developmental project endures the governor assured the management of the hospital and the Eku community that the government decided to sign a five-year contract with a company to ensure that facilities at the hospital remain in good condition. Already, the school, which is a secondary health facility, recently secured a five-year accreditation for Family Medicine Training from the National Post- Graduate Medical College of Nigeria and the West African College of Physicians.