“How we are providing world-class healthcare services in Kano”

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Dr Shuaibu Dambatta, CEO of Northfield Health Services, managers and operators of the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital and the Khalifa Sheik Isyaka Rabi’u Paediatric Specialist Hospital, in Kano has said the two facilities were already providing world-class healthcare services, months after they began operations.

“Our services are the best; they are world-class. If you go to India, Egypt or anywhere else you may not [necessarily] be treated by a specialist. We have a team of about 100 consultants and specialists from around the world including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Egypt. They are as good as any other specialists anywhere in the world and always at our services and will come to Kano once their services are needed,” said Dambatta, a substantive consultant neurosurgeon with sub-specialization in complex spine.

“As private managers, we believe it is a matter of trust between us and the people of Kano. Most of us are from Kano, even though we are not based here. Like me, I am based in England but now want to come back home to deliver the same quality of healthcare services we are offering in England. We have over 200 staff who were all employed on merit after they sat for an aptitude test.  And the government does not interfere in our operations; neither the governor nor the emir interferes in our operations.”

Dambatta said despite the quality of the healthcare services they were providing, the services were still affordable adding that their primary interest was given back to their society for the quality public education they got. “The government is not interested in making profits; our contract with the government says we will give them 30% of profits while 40% will go into providing care for the poor. We will also take 30%; [a part of] which we will still invest in the facilities,” he said.

The Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital and the Khalifa Sheik Isyaka Rabi’u Paediatric Specialist Hospital are Kano state government-owned ultra-modern healthcare facilities providing specialized tertiary healthcare services. The two facilities were recently handed over to Northfield by the Kano State Government – through the recently constituted Kano Ultra-Modern Specialist Hospitals (KUSH) Board – under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), with the mandate to manage and operate.