The Nigeria Episcopal Area has opened one of the best-equipped private hospitals in the region. Unveiled last month, Jalingo United Methodist Hospital, a 30-bed facility, is expected to treat more than 10,000 people annually.
General outpatient, surgical, nursing, administrative and pharmaceutical units are stocked with the latest equipment. The hospital has an expanded range of services that includes an operating room, high-quality medical equipment and health care, as well as public space.
Bishop John Wesley Yohanna expressed hope that the new facility would encourage patients to seek care in Nigeria rather than traveling abroad for medical attention.
Dr. Ayuba A. Gagare, chairman of the United Methodist Rural Health Programme, said the hospital will provide urgent care for patients of all ages. He praised the church for alleviating the suffering of the people by bringing services closer to them.
Health worker Dickens Daniel noted that the hospital would be affordable. Other private medical facilities in the area often are too expensive for many people.
Susan Adams, a nurse at Gilead Hospital, also in Jalingo, described the new facility as the best privately owned hospital in the area. She said that even before the structure was built, the existing United Methodist clinic attended to emergency cases quickly and treated patients with care. The clinic, which was housed in The United Methodist Church in Nigeria’s Secretariat Building for six years, is now part of the hospital.
“I always feel welcomed and at ease whenever I am admitted in this clinic,” said the Rev. Yunusa Z. Usman, “because the management treats patients with love and harmony. It is also accommodating and comfortable.”
Yohanna commended the ministry of pioneer missionaries “upon whose labor we are now building this hospital.”
Simon Benjamin, coordinator of The United Methodist Church of Nigeria Orphanage, which is in the same complex as the new hospital, thanked United Methodist Global Ministries for its support. The mission agency awarded a $161,000 grant through its Global Health unit to build and equip the hospital. Global Ministries also helped the Rural Health Programme establish a revolving drug fund to ensure that medication is always available at this hospital and 18 other health centers the agency supports in Nigeria.
The Rev. Yayuba B. Yoila, administrative assistant to the bishop, urged United Methodists to continue to carry out meaningful projects like this one that better society.
Adamu Bambuka is director of communications for the Southern Nigeria Annual Conference. News media contact: Vicki Brown, Nashville, Tennessee, (615) 742-5470 or [email protected].
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