Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq, has given approval for the recruitment of 197 different medical professionals to boost the human resources and efficient service delivery in the health sector in the state.

The approval according to a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the state Health Management Board, Halimah Sulu-Gambari, includes the employment of eight consultants, 23 medical doctors, and 72 nurses with varying specialties.

Director General of the Kwara State Hospital Management Board, Mr. Sa'ad Aluko, said the approval also covers three senior registrars, 13 pharmacy technicians, six pharmacists, four medical laboratory scientists, five scientific officers, 20 Community Health Extension Workers, 20 Junior CHEW, and 23 hospital attendants.

Aluko said, “We indeed commend the Governor for this timely approval as it will help to replace some of the hands that we have lost to attrition or retirement. This also complements the unprecedented infrastructural development we have seen in the health sector.

“Hiring new hands to deploy these machines for the good of the masses completes a great effort of His Excellency to significantly turn around the fortune of this important sector in line with his campaign mantra. We are so grateful.

“The doctors include dentists to strengthen the new dental centre, while the eight consultants include two anesthetists to man the new Intensive Care Unit even as the government trains more perioperative/theatre nurses for the facility.”

Aluko said the process has since begun, adding however that most of the new officers and health workers would be taken from the large pool of professionals in the state who had earlier applied and had been interviewed for the jobs last year.