Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has directed the immediate harmonisation of the 2023 and 2025 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure for medical workers at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba.

Otti gave the directive on Thursday when he received a progress report from the Board and Management of ABSUTH, led by the Board Chairman, Dr Ezinne Kalu, during a working visit to the Governor’s Office.

The governor said the welfare and working conditions of healthcare professionals must receive adequate attention, noting that his administration’s investments in the health sector were aimed at improving healthcare delivery across the state.

He said the state’s consistent allocation of 15 per cent of its annual budget to healthcare reflected his administration’s commitment to providing affordable and quality medical services to residents.

“The huge investment my administration is making in the health sector, including the consistent allocation of 15 per cent of the state’s annual budget to healthcare, is driven by my desire to provide affordable and quality healthcare to Abians, not to make profit,” Otti said.

The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to repositioning ABSUTH as a world-class tertiary healthcare institution.

He said the first phase of the upgrade focused on restoring accreditations that had been lost for more than two years before his administration assumed office.

Otti also disclosed that some ABSUTH facilities previously concessioned to private entities by the previous administration had been recovered following engagements and settlements with the affected parties.

“The facilities have now been returned to the management of the Teaching Hospital,” he said.

CONMESS harmonisation

Responding to requests contained in the board’s report, particularly those relating to manpower, staff welfare and electricity supply, Otti expressed surprise that the 2023 Federal Government CONMESS structure he had earlier approved was not fully implemented before its review in 2025.

He said implementing the 2023 structure would have placed Abia healthcare workers on a better salary scale than their counterparts in the Federal Government service before the subsequent review.

Otti recalled that before approving the 2023 structure, he requested the total cost of employment to ensure that the state could accommodate the financial implications.

“When the request came, my understanding is that it was going to be better than the Federal. Before I approved it, I asked a question about total cost of employment so that I could cross-check with my budget. So, when I looked at it, I found that we could accommodate it, and I approved it,” he said.

He added, “Going back to what you have is strange; let us make this job easier for ourselves.”

The governor therefore directed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeyinwa Uma-Kalu, and the Chief Medical Director of ABSUTH, Prof Nneka Okoronkwo, to work together to harmonise the 2023 and 2025 CONMESS structures and submit their recommendations for appropriate action.

ABSUTH board presents report

Earlier, the Board Chairman, Dr Ezinne Kalu, presented a report titled “Stabilising Today: Building the Teaching Hospital Abia Deserves.”

Kalu thanked the governor for giving the board the opportunity to serve and outlined its findings and recommendations following its fact-finding exercise at the institution.

The Chief Medical Director of ABSUTH, Prof Nneka Okoronkwo, also thanked Otti for his interventions in addressing some of the challenges facing the teaching hospital.

She disclosed that the governor had approved the payment of salaries owed to interns, settlement of salary arrears owed to three ABSUTH workers for two years, payment of the MDCAN shortfall following the centralisation of salary payments and approval for staff due for promotion.

The latest directive is part of the state government’s efforts to improve staff welfare and strengthen the capacity of ABSUTH to deliver quality tertiary healthcare services.