AKTH debunks ‘last destination’ tag
By GOODLUCK UGWUMBA

THE management of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) has debunked the unhealthy notion held by majority of people that it is the “last destination”, meaning abode of death.
At a one-day sensitization workshop organized recently for journalists in the state, the chairman board of directors, Alhaji Ahmad Alghazali Hassan, said that the institution is one of the best in terms of services, environment and human relations.
He urged the media to put favourable reports about them acknowledging that they (the media) have the power to make or mar the hospital.
In his words: “We seek understanding from you journalists when problems arise. We want you to help in sensitizing the people telling them the true state of things here as we are going to let you know.” Report us well.
Alghazali disclosed that the hospital now operates a welfare fund which caters for patients who are indigent.
The welfare fund, he said, is accumulated through the contribution of 10 per cent of revolving funds from every department in the hospital.
He explained that this development came up as a result of clashes they had in the past with patients who refused to pay their bills and instead of seeking litigation, they would rather let the matter be as it is as against their policy to take patients to court.
Alghazali revealed that the benefit accruable from this welfare fund had made the federal government to mandate all teaching hospitals in the country to set up such service, hence making AKTH a trailblazer.
The chairman asserted that the hospital now carries out renal transplant. “We have carried out 14 successful kidney transplants of which two were done by indigenous doctors who have just returned from training in the United Kingdom, while the 12 were done with the assistance of expatriate doctors from Sudan,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the chief medical director, Dr. Isa Dutse, in his welcome address, traced the history of the hospital from its inception in 1988 to-date.
He highlighted on the hospital’s structure, staff strength and services provided as well as the progress and achievements recorded.
Dr. Dutse disclosed that the vision of the hospital is to be a 500-bedded teaching hospital with state of the art facilities for services, research and training, adding that the hospital has commenced laparascopic surgery which is a less invasive and safer operative procedure, which also reduces patient’s length of stay in hospital.
Dr. Dutse disclosed that the problems being faced by the hospital, include inadequate funding from the federal government, misconceptions of the role of teaching hospital by patients in the immediate community and dumping of mismanaged patients from secondary healthcare centres and private clinics.
Other problems he added, include brain- drain of specialists, misconception of mortality in AKTH and poor attitude to work by some staff.
However, he noted that the organization has employed harsh measures such as down grading and suspension to check the excesses of staff especially the medical record officers who mishandle patients’ files.
Dr. Dutse appealed to philanthropic Nigerians to assist the hospital in procuring health delivery equipment and capital projects as such will be named after them. .