by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
The Orthopedic Hospital Jos, says, with a 20-bed hospital since inception, in 2025, it has admitted 259 patients, with 154 undergoing major surgeries, including two hip replacement and several knee replacements.
Managing Director of the National Orthopedic Hospital Jos, Prof. Icha Inalegwu Onche, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Jos on Wednesday, at the Conference Hall of the Hospital.
He said, they have also treated various fractures and deformities, with plastics surgeons handling many repairs. However, he noted, there is a significant backlog of outpatient cases due to financial constraints, as some patients need to secure funds before surgery.
According to him, the hospital is not covered by NHIS complicating patients care, while 142 patients have been discharged, with the total standing at 2441 as of last week.
The interaction reflect on their two years’ journey so far, highlighting key milestones, success stories, and the ongoing commitment to delivering specialized healthcare and orthopaedic care to the people of Plateau State, the wider North-Central region Nigeria and beyond.
The Managing Director explained that, the very first thing that happened to them was the signing into law on the Act to establishing the hospital, which is introverted by the President; and he was appointed on the 25th of May, 2023.
“That is why, when you see on our logos, you will see ‘Established 2023.’ The law was taken to one. But in effect, 2023 for us, that is huge monster.
“After that, another major milestone for us is when our governor, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, and the good people of Plateau State leased this property to the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Minister of State, Dr. Gyal Absa. We signed an MOU on the 2nd of July, 2024,” he said.
While commending the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, along with Governor Mutfwang, for the support and standing by them to see to the success of the take off of the Hospital, Prof. Onche stressed that, they have unpaid debts of N102 million.
According to him, their fourth milestone was recruitment of staff, saying, “We didn’t have any waivers. We had to get staff from other hospitals. As at the year 2025, when we started operations clinical, we had 72 million at the end of the year so far for 2025. But for this year, I cannot give tentative figures.”
He said, they recruited 193 staffs, and were based on merit. “Those, who had ‘God-fathers’ that were sent with letters to be considered, were not considered.
He said stakeholders assisted them with equipment in loan, which enabled them to kick-start rendering services to the people – “which the management is glad to see; patients are also happy after being treated and are well back to normal.”