On Friday, 27th September, 2024, as part of his tour of Chinese hospitals and medical equipment companies, the CMD, Prof Joe Ugboaja OON, alongside some CMDs, visited the biggest hospital in the world. The hospital is called First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Zhenzhou, China. The hospital has a bed capacity of 10,000.
This particular hospital which is located in the old city of Zhenzou in the Henan province of the People Republic of China is renowned as the largest hospital in the world. The hospital is modern, imposing and massive.
On arrival, the CMD and his group were taken round the hospital by the Clinical supervisor of the hospital.
The areas visited include the Emergency/Trauma unit, the OPD, the Operating theater, and CSSD. The team also visited the simulation center, the radiology department, as well as some of the clinics.
Fielding questions with the press after the visit on the choice of the hospital, Prof Ugboaja explained that since NAUTH has been modeled to become the biggest hospital in Africa, it is strategic to collaborate with the hospital which is the biggest in the whole world with very large of patients population every year.
The CMD explained further that he chose to visit the hospital for two main reasons. The first is to guide him in formulating the right strategies and approaches towards establishing and managing the permanent site as the biggest hospital in Africa. He explained that at the current installed bed capacity of 1,400 beds, NAUTH is already the biggest hospital in Nigeria. He said that achieving the feat of becoming the largest in Africa will require doubling that capacity.
Professor Ugboaja said that he used the opportunity to familarize with the floor arrangements and study how the different hospital units are arranged over a massive land portion and also how the processes of patient care are coordinated over this large space.
He also took out time to look into the hospital’s automation system to see how he can improve on what NAUTH currently has. Recall that the management is in the process of upgrading its automation system/EMR to include remote services.
Movement of patients, patients’ relatives, staff and materials across the various units and departments also recieved attention from the CMD.
In terms of clinical care, the hospital is noted for topnotch endoscopy practices and therefore the visit offered the CMD the opportunity to look at their endoscopy outlay to see what can be done to align NAUTH endoscopy practice along that of the hospital.
Professor Ugboaja said that the second reason for visiting the hospital is to foster collaborations and partnerships with the hospital for the purposes of clinical training and research. According to him, partnerships and collaborations are central to the Vision 2030 strategic plan.
It will be recalled that the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal & Investment Initiative ( NHSRII), which is the main platform and initiative developed by the Hon Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare emphasizes collaborations with key agencies and organizations for the purposes of mobilizing resources and training of manpower in order to achieve the National Health targets.
The CMD said that in a similar manner, NAUTH has aligned its strategies along the NHRII and also places partnerships and collaborations as key pillars in its strategic development plan.
According to him, the hospital will continue to partner with key government agencies and individuals and corporate working within the health sector in order to achieve its goals and objectives.
The CMD will continue his tour with visit to the Mefical equipment manufacturers and some county level hospitals.