The Medical Director of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, North Central, Jos, Prof. Iche Onche, announced on Wednesday that the hospital had obtained approval to recruit 204 staff members.
Onche disclosed this during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Healthcare to the facility.
He mentioned that the facility recently received approval from the National Establishment to hire more workers.
However, he stressed that the recruitment process would adhere to strenuous due process to ensure that the existing vacancies are filled.
“We are undergoing the process through the ministry, and I believe that in the next few weeks, we will obtain a waiver for employment,” he stated.
The hospital director also reported that the renovation of the hospital had reached approximately 65 per cent completion.
“Our initial plan was to commence services by April this year, but due to a shortage of funds, we were unable to do so.
“We cannot continue with the renovation, but we believe that with the visit of the committee, significant progress will be made when the members return to Abuja.
“The ministry is working on establishing an intervention fund for equipment.
“And on July 1, I am scheduled to present our report card to the Minister of State for Health, including our request for funds,” he added.
Onche expressed gratitude to the Plateau Government for rehabilitating the access road leading to the hospital.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr. Alex Egbona, stated that their visit to Jos was “to see things for ourselves”.
Egbona mentioned that they had interacted with the medical director over the phone and in Abuja but had not physically visited the hospital yet.
He noted that the hospital was approved in 2021 and that their visit to Jos aimed to assess the progress of work at the site.
“To our surprise, despite the limited resources, the medical director has made commendable progress in terms of basic infrastructure.
“When we return to Abuja, we will appeal to the ministry to allocate funds for the hospital to effectively commence operations,” the lawmaker concluded.
