By Donald Ojebo
The Delta State Government flagged-off the provision and installation of solar power grid in 15 State owned hospitals .
This will make the hospitals to get steady supply of power for effective and efficient operations.
The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye made this known today at the General hospital Ogwashi-Uku during the flag-off ceremony of the provision and installation of 40kva and 60kva solar power grid.
The Health Commissioner, Dr. Mordi Ononye represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Philomena Okeowo said the interventions were critical for boosting electricity power supply for optimum utility of the newly supplied equipment to the 15 selected health facilities with the view to further strengthen health care service delivery in the facilities.
“Recently, the six Central hospitals at Kwale, Warri, Agbor, Sapele, Ughelli and Oleh and nine General hospitals at Ozoro, Ogwashi-Uku, Akwukwu-Igbo, Umunede, Agbarho, Oghara, Patani, Okerenkoko and Bomadi were upgraded with state of the art medical equipment in order to ensure improved access to health services in order to meet the policy objective of providing Health for All Deltans” the Commissioner said.
He further disclosed that the idea behind the provision of alternative solar power energy was to ensure steady power supply to specific units such as Radiology, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Accident and Emergency among others in the hospitals whose equipment are delicate and does not require fluctuations and sudden power surges that often causes equipment damages.
The commissioner observed thus :
“These intervention no doubt will secure the huge investment the Okowa administration has made in the health sector evident in the supply of the medical equipment for the benefits of residents of the State”
He listed the economic gains of the intervention to include cost effectiveness, reliability, reduction of energy bills, tax saving potentials and contribution to nature among others which is why globally, countries are embracing solar powered energy.
In his address, Dr. Paul Okubor, Director Hospital Services/Chief Executive Officer, State Hospital Management Board described the entire intervention as massive in that it would to a large extent provide alternative power to the selected health facilities thereby reduce very drastically the need for deployment of other sources of power such as diesel and fueling of generating sets.
He expressed gratitude to the GovernorIfeanyi Okowa for his understanding of the problems of the hospitals in the State and also great efforts geared towards addressing the problems in the medical sector.
Okubor listed this administration’s achievement to include the rehabilitation of the hospitals, massive provision of medical equipment, recruitment of medical personnel, approval to replace doctors and nurses who had exited the hospitals for greener pastures outside the shores of the country among others.
He used the medium to admonish members of staff in the hospital on the need for them to take ownership of the equipment, protect, maintain the devices and ensure that the interventions are maximally put into judicious use.
Earlier, Dr. Afinotan Lawrence, Medical Director, General Hospital, Ogwashi-Uku described the intervention as historic in the sense that it would address the issue of poor power supply in Ogwashi-Uku as a whole over time.
“On our own as a hospital we had made efforts to address the power problem in this hospital by purchasing petrol powered generating sets, and small capacity solar powered devices and still could not get round the problem but thank God for this intervention which will no doubt address the problem for us” the Medical Director stated.
Engr. Felix Omokaro, Chief Technical Officer, Heartland Integrated Resources Limited, the Contractor handling the Project described the project as the use of clean and safe energy to meet the power needs in the selected hospitals..
He disclosed the contents that will make up the power grid for Ogwashi-Uku general hospital to consist of 96 nos. 300watt panels; 4 nos. 10kva inverter; 4 nos.120A solar charge control for the inverters and 8nos. 15 kilowatt hour batterie among others.
