CHRISTMAS GIFT: EBONYI STATE GOVT SETTLES MEDICAL BILLS OF INDIGENT PATIENTS

Reporter : AMECHI ODO

Ebonyi State Government has paid medical bills of all patients receiving treatment at both federal, private and primary health institutions across the State worth about one hundred and forty million Naira.

At the commencement of the exercise at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Governor David Umahi explained that God directed him to do that in the spirit of Christmas.

Governor Umahi explained that the One hundred and forty million Naira was for those who had been discharged but were being held as a result of their inability to pay their medical bills as well as those who were still receiving treatment.

He said though road infrastructure and other projects being implemented by the state government were for the good of the people, settling the bills were in line with the human empowerment policy of the state government.

Governor Umahi prayed for the beneficiaries, noting that identifying with them was the best way to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ in a period challenged by recession and COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious and Welfare Matters, the Rev. Fr. Abraham Nwali, explained that the patients would not only be discharged but also to be provided with five thousand Naira each, a bag of rice and wrapper to celebrate Christmas with their families.

The Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Emeka Oga, commended the state Governor for the kind gesture and his partnership with the hospital, noting that he had given hope to the hopeless.

Some of the patients including, Mr. Ogochukwu Nwaebonyi, who had a spinal cord injury, said they had been in the hospital for months waiting for money for more treatment but to no avail and thanked the state government for its intervention.