Dr. Stephen Hwande, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Benue State institution Teaching facility (BSUTH), Makurdi, has announced that the institution will perform In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) on 25 women at the hospital.
Hwande, who disclosed this on Thursday while briefing reporters on the hospital’s recent accomplishments, stated that the facility has hired neurosurgeons, paediatric surgeons, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, doctors, nurses, and other staff.
The CMD indicated that one of the first things he did after taking office was assess the hospital’s workforce needs.
He stated that the hospital lacked the necessary human resources to drive its operations in crucial areas.
His words: “We needed to have neurosurgeons and now we have two neurosurgeons. We needed pediatric surgeons, plastic surgeons among others and because we have got a pediatric surgeon, we have just successfully operated a child with tongue tumors yesterday, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. In the past such cases were referred to Jos or Abuja.
“Now, we have pediatric surgeons, plastic surgeons, dermatologists and in this recruitment process, we have been able to bring in opthalmologists, optometrists, dentists, including physiotherapists, radiologists and all cadre of staffs have been employed.
“We employed about 140 nurses and over 60 doctors. So within the budget of the hospital, we have employed 400 staff into the Teaching Hospital as approved by the Government of Benue state.”
He stated that the distribution is fair because the workers were recruited from the state’s three senatorial zones to ensure that every sector, tribe, and religion were represented, and that non-indigenes from Bauchi, Bornu, and Enugu, among others, were also recruited on merit.
He said that the state government would use the workers to administer the Muhammadu Buhari sector annexe and perform other functions.
He praised Governor Hyacinth Alia for sanctioning the hire of nearly 400 hospital employees, achieving one of his campaign promises to get youths off the streets and reduce unemployment.
Hwande further said that the institution has already recruited 25 infertile women for IVF procedures in the first batch.
According to him, “So the hospital’s first batch of IVF will be in April – May and 25 women have been recruited. We are going to run that at the Muhammadu Buhari annex and the governor has directed that the services should be subsidized for these women in this first batch.
“They are already in process and it will be completed and by April to first week of May, we will have 25 women go through assisted reproduction.
“Usually, IVF processes are very expensive and for us to start it in the public sector is commendable because in the whole country you may not find up to five teaching hospitals that are involved in IVF.”
He expressed joy that with the service, BSUTH will soon be put on the map of teaching hospitals that are involved in IVF.