FMC Owerri Crisis: FG Inaugurates 5-man Committee

The federal government has inaugurated a 5-man interim management
committee to look into the‎ crisis that has disrupted activities at
the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo state, with the intention of
restoring lasting peace and services.

The committee has been saddled with 11 terms of reference and is
expected to complete the job within six months of its inauguration and
chat a roadmap towards the achievement of delivering health services
to the people.

This was revealed, Monday, by the minister of health, Prof Isaac
Adewole at the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, when he ‎inaugurated
the committee to be supervised by Prof Ndubisi Eke.

He stated that despite all entreaty to end the crisis, the unions
rebuffed federal governments request to give a 3-month moratorium to
work with the management, within which period it would make resources
available to address some of their welfare issues in addition to
improving the lot of the hospital, hence the decision to shut dowm the
hospital.

He said the committee is expected to "take over all administrative,
technical, operational and financial functions of the centre and
restore humane healthcare services, review events leading up to the
industrial unrest and ensure inter/intra professional harmony among
all cadres of staff and take inventory of all properties, assets and
liabilities of the centre."

"Review financial transactions for proper records, conduct personnel
audit of all employees to establish accurate staff disposition,
conduct audit of the operational processes and systems of the centre
and to evaluate the effectiveness of the governance structure, process
and recruitment" among others.

‎It will be recalled that activities were brought to a halt at the
center for the past eight months due to severe unrest which was
carried out by union members who have continued to insist that the
medical director, Dr Angela Uwakwem must be sacked on account of
high-handedness and other allegations levelled against her.

However, the fact-finding committee that investigated the allegations
against the medical director had since submitted its report and had
exonerated her and the contents of the report was brought to the
public domain.

-Leadership