By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka, has in the last few months continued to experience some changes that are now bearing fruits in the form of improved health care delivery to patients. Today, staff members of the Teaching Hospital and patients freely attest to the changing culture and high-quality care, which are direct consequences of some reforms spearheaded by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of COOUTH, Dr. Maureen Umeakuewulu, who was appointed only four months ago by the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo. “I interact with my patients, and I run an open-door policy. There is a standard I have in mind, and we are determined to move COOUTH forward,” the CMD said.
Dr. Maureen Umeakuewulu recounted that upon her resumption, she was determined to make COOUTH a centre of excellence that is compliant with global standards. “When I was appointed, I came down to Anambra determined to make COOUTH a centre of excellence that is moving towards global standards.” That is the journey COOUTH has embarked on for the past four months. “For me, there is a minimum standard for an important institution like COOUTH, and I resumed on a tripod to ensure that we do not operate below standard,” the CMD recalled. Accordingly, the CMD set out to “improve clinical services,” “improve training of staff,” and “position COOUTH for quality research as a teaching hospital.” These three were tagged to five timelines of emergency or urgent, immediate, short term, medium term and long term.
Reflecting, the CMD narrated her journey so far. “There were a few things we needed to do urgently to improve our clinical services. We needed some basic clinical equipment we did not have, and we have been able to get some. We created the department of orthopedics and have applied for accreditation. We unbundled our lab and created departments of microbiology, hematology, and chemistry, which were previously lumped up. I said no. You cannot grow and attain standard professional service delivery like that,” Dr. Umeakuewulu said. At the moment, the accident and emergency department of COOUTH is undergoing total renovation to ensure that it is properly reconstructed to meet standard emergency service delivery. After the renovation, oxygen to patients will be automated and seamless. Currently, the private wing clinic which will be manned by consultants for personalized care, is being renovated.
Speaking on quality of staff to drive the reforms, Dr. Umeakuewulu said she ran into a challenge with that, but expressed confidence that with the measures put in place, there has been an appreciable level of improvement. “We are trying to instill discipline. We have had several meetings to discuss staff attendance and discipline. We have zero tolerance for corruption. So far, we have suspended some of our staff members to instill discipline,” the CMD said. As of today, COOUTH now has an organized security whose professional services are augmented with CCTV in essential areas across the hospital vicinity. In addition, there is complete internet access across the hospital. These changes spotlight the making of a livable and prosperous homeland where people can access quality and standard medical care in line with Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s vision.
Dr. Umeakuewulu is also working to digitize data in the hospital. “I saw our staff members moving folders up and down, and that is not in tandem with global standards. So, I commenced the digitization process, and we will soon go fully digital with a smart card that has a wallet, and our data is stored on iCloud. All medications in our pharmacy and other services are now duly documented digitally and safely stored. We needed these changes to meet the minimum standards,” the CMD said.
On accountability and hospital revenue, Dr. Maureen Umeakuewulu said a public institution like COOUTH couldn’t move forward without accountability. “Without accountability, we can’t move. We brought in Remita providers to manage our revenue. No staff is allowed to collect cash in the hospital now, and it has reflected in our revenue,” she said.
There is now an emerging new COOUTH, with changes which are easily noticeable and discussed by staff members and patients.
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