The Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, has dismissed allegations of ethnic discrimination in the recruitment of house officers, describing the claims as false and misleading.
Speaking during a media tour of the hospital over the weekend, Prof. Ikpeme stated that the institution has never operated any policy targeting any ethnic group, particularly Igbos.
“It is not true that we rejected house officers because they were Igbo. It is not the policy of the hospital and it is not something we do,” he said.
The CMD expressed disappointment over the controversy, noting that the affected applicants did not seek an audience with him before taking the issue to social media.
“They had no meeting with me. They probably only got to know me after they did what they did, and yet they wrote that I rejected them because they were Igbo,” he added.
To reinforce his position on inclusiveness, Prof. Ikpeme revealed that the hospital recently named a ward after an Igbo medical practitioner in recognition of his years of service and contributions to the institution.
“You have just seen us name a ward after an Igbo man. I don’t think an Igbo-hating Chief Medical Director will name a ward after an Igbo man,” he stated.
He further disclosed that the hospital’s current Head of Nursing Services is also of Igbo extraction, stressing that appointments and promotions within the institution are based strictly on due process and seniority.
Highlighting ongoing developments at the hospital, Prof. Ikpeme said the facility currently operates about 38 wards and clinics across 62 clinical and non-clinical departments, with many of the facilities recently remodelled or renovated.
He noted that the hospital now performs advanced medical procedures, including hip and knee replacements, brain tumour surgeries, spinal surgeries, and minimally invasive keyhole surgeries.
“We do keyhole surgery. If your appendix is giving you a problem, we can take it out and the following day, we send you home because we’ve done minimal access surgery,” he explained.
The CMD also disclosed that a new Department of Emergency Medicine is under construction to address increasing patient demand. According to him, the facility will include trauma bays, intensive care units, and emergency theatres.
Prof. Ikpeme said the teaching hospital serves patients not only from Cross River State but also from neighbouring states and countries such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. He added that the 850-bed capacity hospital caters to more than five million patients.
On emergency care and staff conduct, he said management has introduced both reward and disciplinary measures aimed at improving professionalism among workers. He also denied allegations that emergency patients are refused treatment due to inability to pay upfront.
“For emergencies, we do not insist on payment before treatment,” he said.
The CMD commended the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Ministry of Health for their continued support, citing the installation of a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine and other infrastructure projects worth billions of naira.
Elijah Adeyemi
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