THE moribund Baptist Hospital, Eku, Ethiope-East Council of Delta State, on Monday received a lifeline as the state government took over its administration.

Eku Baptist Hospital was established as a dispensary in 1945 and transformed into a full hospital in 1950.

Speaking at the take-over ceremony, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan disclosed that all the hospital's workers previously laid off after serving for 20 years have been pensioned.

The state government will also take over the School of Nursing hitherto run by the hospital.

Meanwhile, assisted reproductive practice received a boost on Monday in the state when the Nigerian franchise holders of the Danish Nordica Fertility Centre opened a clinic in Asaba for the treatment of couples facing natural conception challenges and endoscopic surgery.

Uduaghan, who opened the fertility clinic, said it would reduce the stress faced by fertility-seeking patients in the state.

The governor said that the Baptist Hospital would provide free maternal health care to the Eku community and its environs.

He promised to transform the hospital into a showpiece and appealed to old and new employees of the hospital to sustain its working culture developed over the years.

He said: "This hospital has a unique working culture and this is why all the equipment are still functioning. Do not post any of the workers out of the hospital."

Uduaghan recalled that move to take over the hospital, which started in 1999, was long and tortuous as it was opposed by many people.

He commended the Eku community for its contributions towards the takeover exercise, especially for not asking for compensation.

Thanking the missionary who established it, Uduaghan said since the hospital was built on the altar of God, it would continue to grow since it enjoyed God's providence.

Paying tributes to a prominent son of the community, the late Chief Okpoko Edewor, the governor said the take-over of the hospital was one of the cherished wishes of the late Edewor.

A spokesperson for the Eku community, Mrs. Betty Edewor, commended the state government for taking over the hospital and lifting a heavy burden off the shoulders of the community.

Uduaghan wrote off the N500,000 medical bills of two detained nursing mothers and three pregnant women at the hospital.

Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, said infertility was on the rise in Nigeria, as it occurs in every one in five couples.

He disclosed that the cost of treatment of a patient is about N490,000 exclusive of drugs, stressing that nearly three out of four women would get pregnant after undergoing full treatment.