The Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, has charged the newly appointed management of General Hospital Calabar to embark on far-reaching administrative and operational reforms to restore the facility to its position as the flagship secondary healthcare institution in the state.
Ayuk gave the charge on Thursday, November 5, 2026, when the new management team, led by the Medical Superintendent, Dr. Francis Ekon, paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Calabar.
The Commissioner stressed that General Hospital Calabar, being the state’s foremost secondary health facility, requires exceptional administrative attention, effective supervision, financial discipline and a renewed commitment to quality healthcare delivery.
“General Hospital Calabar is the flagship medical centre of the state, and so we expect nothing less than maximum attention,” Ayuk said, emphasising the need for the new leadership to demonstrate strong administrative capacity and a clear sense of responsibility.
He expressed concern over persistent complaints associated with the hospital’s operations in recent years, particularly in the pharmacy, laboratory and financial management, insisting that the new leadership must address the shortcomings and restore public confidence in the institution.
“We have managed for about two, three years in the hospital with a lot of complaints, complaints in pharmacy, complaints in laboratory, complaints in accountability, and so forth. This must change,” he stated.
Ayuk specifically raised concerns about revenue leakages in the laboratory, alleging that some patients access services directly from outside the hospital without their payments being properly captured in the facility’s accounts.
“If you look at your lab, there is a lot of financial leakage in that place. People walk in from the road, enter the hospital gate, pass straight to the lab, get treated, pay for treatment, and the payments are not reflected in the accounts of the hospital,” he observed.
The Commissioner also warned against absenteeism, poor work ethics and the practice of staff abandoning their official responsibilities to pursue external academic engagements, stressing that professional development must not come at the expense of service delivery.
He maintained that the hospital’s strategic importance to the state’s healthcare system demands a higher level of administrative scrutiny, adding that the new management would be expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in discipline, efficiency, financial accountability and patient care.
Responding, the Medical Superintendent, Dr. Francis Ekon, assured the Commissioner that the new management was fully committed to repositioning the hospital and addressing the challenges confronting the institution.
Ekon said the team would work in close alignment with the Ministry of Health to implement the State’s health sector objectives, strengthen institutional performance and improve the quality of services available to residents.
He expressed the management team’s determination to work collectively, uphold the Ministry’s standards and move the hospital forward under the guidance and supervision of the Ministry.
By Kingsley Agim
