History will be made in the Abia health sector under the Dr Alex Otti administration on Tuesday 25/8/26 as the Obingwa General Hospital, the first retrofitted and digitally equipped secondary healthcare facility by the administration of is now ready for commissioning.
Speaking with Newsmen while inspecting the level of readiness of the hospital on Sunday, August 23, 2026, the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, expressed delight that the State is gradually moving from an analogue system to a digital healthcare system.
Professor Uche disclosed that the hospital has digital equipment that can check vital signs and carry out other medical procedures seamlessly.
“In fact, one of the equipment that we have here is AI enabled. So all these things are to ensure that we can leverage technology to expand coverage.
“We have a digital stadiometer, it does a lot of things. Instead of using the manual equipment to measure your blood pressure, your heart rate, your weight and height, this one, you just stand on it and it measures your height, your weight, and then there is a hand that you can use to get your blood pressure, your pulse, everything.
“And then it will calculate your BMI. So all your vital parameters at a glance, you get it. And because it is already linked to cloud, our digital archive to transfer all those information and save it.
“So that is what we are doing. And in fact, beyond that, when it registers something that is designed like the blood pressure, you will even tell it. And that is what His Excellency is doing.
“It is not just building the robust, future-ready healthcare. It is also customising it and making it people-friendly, making it contextually appropriate, so that our people will be able to embrace it, use it for their benefit” Prof. Uche stated.
He said that remodelling the hospital was part of Governor Otti’s vision to ensure that all Abians, including those in the rural and suburban areas, are able to access the highest quality of healthcare services, irrespective of where they live.
He noted that the hospital used to be dysfunctional, with leaking roofs, and was a habitation for rodents and reptiles.
According to him, “Because the hospital couldn’t really offer decent health care services to people. But, rather than knocking down, His Excellency approved the complete remodelling.
“So what was here before has been remodelled to a modern, and I dare say an ultra modern health care system. So I think Abians should be proud of what His Excellency is doing”
He informed that the hospital is equipped with the best equipment that can be found anywhere, adding that government has enough healthcare workers to care for the people.
“The facilities for that are here. We also have facilities for radiology, facilities for the opportunity, and then of course modern beds and all the basic facilities you need to have in a modern general hospital. So we’re happy that we can say that we’re meeting the standards that His Excellency has set” Prof. Uche stated.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitals Management Board (HMB), Dr Odochi Azubuike, said Governor Otti is fixing the health ecosystem in the State.
She said that the secondary healthcare system is more like the balance between primary and tertiary healthcare services and appreciated Governor Otti for being a trailblazer in the healthcare system.
“So at the level of secondary healthcare facilities, we talk about the general hospitals, cottage hospitals, clinics, dental clinics, and eye clinics. We have the eye clinic here. We’re going to have a dental clinic here.
“We’re going to have laboratories where we have the state of the art modern laboratory, where we have auto analysers and chemical analysers to analyse our blood samples and these are the things you don’t have in primary healthcare facilities.
“So we’re going to offer, in other words, comprehensive healthcare and emergency services.
“And the governor is a trailblazer by doing that because he understands the healthcare system,” Dr. Azubuike stated.
The Obingwa General Hospital, Mgboko, which has modern equipment including digital beds, world class theatre, solar – powered electricity among others would serve as a secondary healthcare facility for people of the area while the primary healthcare centres in the area would be linked to it.
