Aso Rock Clinic to be commercialised

-In an effort to boost its revenue and quality of services, steps have been taken to seek the commercialisation of the Aso Rock clinic.

Mr Jalal Arabi, the Permanent Secretary, State House, on Wednesday said the management of the State House Medical Centre would begin steps to commercialise the clinic to salvage its deplorable state.

This statement by the permanent secretary came on the heels of a recent media report on the state of the clinic, according to the Deputy Director of Information of the State House, Mr. Attah Esa.

The clinic which currently offers free medical services to patients, Arabi explained that its commercialisation would augment the revenue it receives from the government in order to improve the quality of its services.

He said: “The Centre is the only health centre in Abuja where patients are not required to pay any dime before consultation.

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“In other government hospitals in Abuja, patients are required to pay for consultation, treatment, laboratory tests and others but that has not been the case with the State House Medical Centre.

“The Centre offers free services, nobody pays a kobo for hospital card, consultations or prescriptions and this has taken a toll on the subvention the Centre receives from the government.

“We have some of the best equipment in the country. For instance, to maintain the MRI and other scan machines, we spend close to N2 million monthly. Yet we do not charge a dime for those who require MRI scans in the clinic.”

Arabi said the development would ensure that those eligible to use the Centre are NHIS complaint with their Health Maintenance Organisations or primary health provider domiciled in the clinic.