By Asuquo Cletus
The Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, has denied allegations of ethnic discrimination in the recruitment of house officers.
This is coming after many reports (Not Primetime) had insisted that applicants were rejected on the basis of tribe or ethnicity.
Prof. Ikpeme spoke on Friday during a facility tour of the hospital by journalists in Calabar, where he addressed concerns over a past controversy that trailed the alleged rejection of some Igbo house officers.
The CMD described the allegation as false and unfortunate, saying the hospital has never operated a discriminatory policy against any ethnic group.
“It is not true that we rejected house officers because they were Igbo. It is not the policy of the hospital and it is not something we do,” he said.
According to him, the affected house officers never met with him before the matter was taken to social media.
“They had no meeting with me. They probably only got to know me after they did what they did, and yet they wrote that I rejected them because they were Igbo,” he stated.
Prof. Ikpeme said claims portraying him as anti-Igbo were misleading, noting that the hospital recently named a ward after an Igbo medical practitioner in recognition of his decades of service and contributions to healthcare development.
“You have just seen us name a ward after an Igbo man. I don’t think an Igbo-hating Chief Medical Director will name a ward after an Igbo man,” he added.
He further disclosed that the hospital’s current Head of Nursing Services is also of Igbo extraction, stressing that appointments and promotions in the institution are based strictly on due process and seniority.
The CMD, however, used the opportunity to highlight ongoing reforms and infrastructural upgrades at the tertiary health institution.
He revealed that the hospital currently operates about 38 wards and clinics within its 62 clinical and non-clinical departments, adding that most of the wards had either undergone complete remodeling or facelift renovations.
Prof. Ikpeme said the hospital now performs advanced medical procedures, including hip and knee replacements, brain tumour surgeries, spinal surgeries and minimally invasive surgeries popularly known as keyhole surgeries.
“We do keyhole surgery. If your appendix is giving you a problem, we can take it out and the following day, we send you home because we’ve done minimal access surgery,” he said.
He also disclosed that the hospital was constructing a new Department of Emergency Medicine to address increasing patient pressure, noting that the facility would include trauma bays, intensive care units and emergency theatres.
According to him, the hospital serves not only Cross River residents but also patients from neighbouring states and countries including Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
On complaints about poor staff attitude, Prof. Ikpeme said the management had adopted a reward and disciplinary system aimed at improving professionalism and patient care.
He also denied claims that emergency patients are rejected for inability to pay hospital bills, saying indigent patients are often treated before discussions about payment begin.
“For emergencies, we do not insist on payment before treatment,” he said.
Prof. Ikpeme commended the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Ministry of Health for supporting the hospital with infrastructure and modern medical equipment.
He cited the installation of a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine and ongoing renovation projects across the hospital as evidence of federal intervention in the health sector.
