From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, Associate Professor Joseph Ugboaja, has been promoted to the full rank of a Professor.
He was one of the Professors and Readers recently approved by Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka for promotion.
Recall that in 2019, Professor Ugboaja was promoted to a Reader by the University. This recent feat has distinguished him as one of the youngest Professors and, of course, the newest in town, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
For the better part of the last 2 years, Professor Ugboaja has been in the news for the giant developmental strides at the hospital’s permanent site since his assumption of office as the Chief Medical Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi.
These unprecedented and astonishing infrastructural development of the hospital has culminated in the commissioning of the hospital permanent site by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 19, 2023. It has also attracted awards and recognitions from various organizations and bodies working in the area of good governance and nationalism. Perhaps the highlight of all the awards is the award of the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger(OON) earlier this year.
In all these achievements in healthcare administration, it is easy to forget that Professor Ugboaja Joseph is a consummate and brilliant academician and a University teacher.
Just like Professor Ugboaja’s trajectory in hospital administration, his record in the academia is nothing short of breathtaking.
Professor Ugboaja was first appointed as lecturer 1 in the University in 2014 and had an accelerated promotion to Senior Lecturer position 2 years after on the basis of his creative output and contribution to learning.
It is instructive, and perhaps a pointer to Prof Ugboaja’s to note that at the point of finishing Residency training and entrance into the University system, Professor Ugboaja had written over 40 scholarly articles published in quality Journals and has presented over 70 papers at Scientific Conferences. A record yet to be broken in Nigeria.
It is equally important to note that even when Professor Ugboaja was laden with hospital management responsibilities as DCMAC and later CMAC, as a man whose quest for learning and impacting system is insatiable, he still squeezed out time to attend a one year training in India in the area of Minimal Access Surgery and Assisted Reproductive Technology bagging Fellowship of Minimal Access Surgery(FMAS), Diploma in Minimal Access Surgery (DMAS) from the famous World Laparoscopy Hospital, as well as Diploma in Assisted Reproductive techniques ( Dip. ART) from Chennai Fertility Institute.
It is equally of note that between 2017 and 2021 when Professor Ugboaja was busy as the Chairman Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, he wrote over 20 papers in scholarly journals, mostly showcasing his works in the area of Gynaecology endoscopy. (Prof Ugboaja’s numerous contributions to academia and knowledge can easily be found on Google scolar).
There is no doubt that Professor Ugboaja’s inclination towards research and learning has rubbed off on the management of NAUTH and indeed, much of the positive developments we are witnessing at the hospital today are products of research and the application of its findings.
It will be recalled that as the CMAC, Professor Ugboaja introduced various research based hospital improvement initiatives and these include patient satisfaction survey and altitudinal change workshops anchored by the Quality Improvement Committee; the Labouratory quality management system( Lab QMS); the Clinic-pathologic conference series( A multidisciplinary review of challenging cases); the NAUTH Research Society; the NAUTH Oncology Society; the Minimal Access Surgery symposia anchored by the Minimal Access committee as well as the Annual NAUTH Scientific Conference, among many others, all in a bid to ensure evidence driven quality care.
As the Chief Medical Director, Professor Ugboaja has redefined the vision of the hospital, to rank among the top 3 Hospitals in Nigeria by the year 2030.
This he has anchored on a 10-year strategic and development plan with eight strategic pillars. These include strong corporate leadership, infrastructural development, human capital development, acquisition of state of the art equipment, as well as partnerships and collaborations.
Others are robust financial management system, use of ICT, research and innovations, staff welfare and motivation.
Working along these thematic areas, from all indications, Prof Ugboaja has left no one in doubt that he has what it takes to radically transform the Teaching hospital to an institution of great repute.
He is a visionary leader who has always known not just what to achieve but also how to inspire and motivate his staff to key in fully into his vision and action plan.
Professor Ugboaja has endeared himself not only to his staff but also to numerous community stakeholders.
This was made manifest in the last visit of the traditional ruler of Nnewi community, HRM Igwe Kenneth Orizu III to the permanent site to inspect the ongoing projects. On that occasion, Igwe was emotional about what Professor Ugboaja has achieved at the permanent site and spoke so glowingly about him. He was to later request him to accept a traditional title from Nnewi as a means of appreciating all his efforts at developing the Hospital and by extension, Nnewi town.
Similarly other Reagents have nominated Prof Ugboaja for traditional titles. These include Ifitedunu and Omogho towns, among others.
Indeed, Professor Ugboaja Joseph has shown and proven that there is relationship between scholarly learning and accomplishments and performance as a public office holder.