Primary purpose of the project

The Cross River State Specialist PPP Hospitals are designed to address the critical need for climate – resilient and sustainable hospitals across the three senatorial districts in the state.

The primary purpose of the hospital PPP project is to leverage the private sector's innovation, infrastructure, and resources to improve healthcare quality, efficiency, and accessibility, ultimately enhancing health outcomes for citizens. This will be achieved by augmenting healthcare infrastructure, improving service delivery through private sector expertise, and providing specialized care that might otherwise be unavailable or costly to the public sector alone.

Key Purposes of Cross River State Specialist Hospital PPP Hospitals:

Infrastructure Development:

It will facilitate the construction and modernization of state-of-the-art specialist hospitals and diagnostic centers, addressing gaps in healthcare infrastructure, especially in central and northern senatorial districts.

Enhanced Service Delivery:

By pooling resources and expertise, the projects will improve the quality, efficiency, and innovation of healthcare services, leading to better patient outcomes and shorter waiting times.

Increased Accessibility:

These partnerships will help to expand the availability of specialized healthcare services, making them more accessible to a broader population, including vulnerable groups, as governments is working towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Leveraging Expertise and Resources:

The private sector brings specialized expertise, advanced technology, and financial capacity that can enhance a public health system's capabilities, which can include training healthcare professionals and adopting innovative treatment models.

Innovation and Efficiency:

The projects will foster innovation in state healthcare service design and delivery, leading to more effective, cost-efficient, and faster provision of care compared to traditional public models alone.

Bridging Gaps in Care:

By focusing on specialized areas such as diagnostics, renal care, or pediatric services, the project will effectively fill critical gaps in the state health systems, providing services that are otherwise limited or nonexistent.

Alignment with the country's national climate-change mitigation and adaptation targets

The State Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the State Ministry of Works and Ministry of Health, provided oversight to ensure the project aligns with the National Climate Change Policy Response and Strategy (2012), revised in 2021 https://climatechange.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NCCP_NIGERIA_REVISED_2-JUNE-2021.pdf and state climate mitigation strategy and flood management policy to revise and adapt standards and guidelines for Hospital infrastructure construction, maintenance and exploitation under different climatic scenarios, and contribute to improve environmental performance of Medical Tourism sector by the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) 2021. The project will include developing and promoting low-emission Hospital options, such as light electric lift, solar power lighting, to reduce emissions from the power source. It will also incorporate climate-resilient features in urban planning, including green infrastructure, flood management systems, and sustainable transportation solutions.

Contribution to Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions

The project Solar panels infrastructure contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by promoting cleaner modes of power supply. The project is designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by improving energy efficiency through building upgrades and LED lighting, switching to renewable energy sources like solar panels, reducing waste by implementing recycling, composting, and reducing single-use items, and minimizing the use of high-impact medical gases and anesthetic gases by capturing and re-processing them and substituting them with lower-impact alternatives.

Mitigation features that contribute to the transition towards a net-zero future

The project is designed to incorporate climate change mitigation measures including implementing solar and wind energy systems to power the Hospital facilities, reducing reliance on traditional energy sources, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity consumption. Also, the planting of trees and investment in afforestation projects to absorb carbon dioxide and offset emissions contribute to carbon neutrality within the hospital's operational scope which is part of the State government's commitment to achieving SDG 13 and creating a sustainable carbon-neutral environment by 2050.