“We intend to help with Nigerian doctors and foreign expertise as well.”

Kelvin Ojonugwa Akpala, an experienced healthcare administrator and business development expert with over 15 years of experience, is currently the Director/General Manager, Business Development/Corporate Communication at the SAHAD Hospital. In this exclusive interview with BusinessDay Ruth Tene Natsa, he speaks on how quality standards will ensure a return on the over N10 billion investment in the hospital.…. excerpts

Why the business aspect of SAHAD Hospital?

This is the first time it’s really happening, and part of the reason we created the business angle is so that we are able to see how we can maximise the business angle of the hospital. What most hospitals make is the fact that they just focus on the clinical angle. The hospital is basically divided into two arms: the clinical and the business operations. On the business operation arm, sometimes there is administration as well as the financial part of it. However, for the hospital to really grow faster, the business angle needs to be taken into consideration, and so our job functions are in the business department. We are given the full responsibility to ensure that we market our services here.

So while the clinical angle is providing the services, what we do is market the services, ensuring that each time a patient comes, they are satisfied with the services that the clinical angle of the department provides. It is extremely important because, after investing more than $10 billion now, you also need a return on the investments because the hospital needs to be able to function on its own, be able to produce, be able to cater for its operational costs, and be able to manage the personal running of the facility.

With over N10b in investment, you should have some unique equipment. What equipment sets you apart?

We wanted a one-stop shop service where people come here and are able to assess every kind of treatment, so we went all out. Also, part of our vision is to see how we could bring down the cost of medical tourism, which is currently ongoing. People spend up to 20,000 U.S. dollars on a trip to fly overseas to get medical treatment overseas. And if you look at that in the year, we find that almost a billion U.S. dollars are carted away from the country through the means of medical tourism. We wanted to provide medical services that people can actually assess over there. For now, in terms of ideology, we have the highest level of therapy services.

We have a 1.5 Tesla machine. We also have a 64-slide city scan machine. We have two X-ray rooms: a digital X-ray room and a mobile X-ray room. The mobile X-ray room is actually placed at Accident and Emergency (A&E) for trauma cases where you need quicker medicine and diagnosis services. We have a mobile X-ray room machine at the A and E. We also have four discounts, two for all the services like Doppler, Doppler Scan, ECG, Obstetric Scan, and the rest of the rest. We also have a well-equipped laboratory service as well as all manner of services, including microbiology, chemistry, pathology, and the rest. In addition to that, we have a testing diegesis machine station here, which is one of the biggest centres in Abuja. So, we take care of dialysis cases for kidney issues and all that. The hospital is actually a 200-bed hospital with several pretty theatres.

At a time when Nigerian doctors and nurses are all running away, will you be dealing with the same local doctors or are you importing specialised services?

First of all, we have been able to identify the reasons why our doctors are leaving. Basically, when our doctors are overused and not well paid, they intend to leave the country. We intend to help with Nigerian doctors and foreign expertise as well. We have been able to offer better benefits and salaries to our doctors. It’s very robust. It’s something that they can also earn outside there. We are able to provide a robust combination for them, providing transport as well as training facilities to equip their clinical skills and the rest.

Looking at the Nigerian situation, some people will argue that your services are for Northerners only. Is this true?

Not true at all; our vision is to provide medical care to Nigerians. We have staff across the nation and across religions too. We have a leader, a chairman who is detribalized and without religious sentiments. He looks at performances rather, so our staff strength is drawn across the nation, not one side.

SAHAD is known more for its malls; what inspired a hospital?

The construction of the hospital actually started in 2017, when our chairman identified a deficiency in the healthcare system in the country. Before the hospital, he had been involved in corporate social responsibility, taking care of the hospital bills of hundreds of patients, and wanted to take it further. And that’s where this actually came into place. And like I said earlier, the hospital is one man’s dream; there was no support from anywhere. He took this time to actually, you know, invest. There was no support from anywhere. You know, he just did his thing. It is a private hospital, and we intend to replicate this in Kano and across the nation as we go on.

Can the common man afford your services?

Yes, our vision is to provide affordable healthcare for the population of the country. Here, the Chairman has specifically instructed that we should be able to afford those services that can even be compared to what they are getting in a general hospital. The kind of services, the kind of payment, etcetera, so we put all that into consideration. It’s not just there to say; we are actually putting it into action.

Like you said, this was privately funded. What support would you be asking from the government if you had the opportunity?

Well, for now, I’m not at liberty to say, but maybe in the long run, for now, at least we’re comfortable where we are to be able to provide services to the general public.

What are some of the challenges you people face in setting up?

Well, gradually, we are beginning to see forms of multiple taxation. If you are conversant with the healthcare system, in other parts of the world, when it comes to healthcare services, they are giving. Enjoying waivers and all that. But it’s not like that here in Nigeria. In fact, you can have one particular AMAC government coming in here. Sometimes you have about 10 different services and demand notice to pay for them. I have also been in the system for the past 15 years and have read where the government will tell you that it’s part of the revenue-generating framework and ground to provide this and to provide that. At the end of the year, you find, basically, that we are left to ourselves. So if we have waivers coming in, you know, that could really help.

Because one thing is that I think one of the reasons why you have a very expensive healthcare system in Nigeria. At the end of the year, you are not going to get in as much as you want because, by the time these demand duties are coming in, they have to be forced to pay distance. At the end of the day, by the time these things are forced to be paid, it will reflect on the patient, the tariffs, and the rest.