The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter, has honoured Dr. Blessing Chukwukelu, a chief consultant family physician and director of post-graduate training at the Eko Hospital Plc, with “Physician of the Year 2019 Award.”

 

The award, which took place recently, singled out Dr. Chukwukelu for her devotion to sustained and selfless medical services, academic mentorship with creativity in delivering long-lasting results and respect for peers and for being a role model in the medical field. She is an examiner with the Faculty of Family Medicine of the West Africa College of Physicians and the National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria.

 

She contested against other giants in the medical profession, including Dr. Funsho Ladipo, MD/CEO of R. Jolad; and Dr. Amy Traore Shumbusho, orthodontist, dentist/founder of Project Smile 360.

 

In what many medical doctors considered as novel, the emergence of Dr. Chukwukelu from Eko Hospital was widely applauded, perhaps because NMA has often celebrated outstanding practitioners only from the public sector, despite the fact that their colleagues in the private sector are equal financial members of the association. “I feel both surprised and elated that a medical practitioner in private practice can be so honoured while doing her work quietly. The beauty of the whole thing is that I was not even aware that such a thing was going on, including the voting process,” she said.

 

It was Dr. Ademola Dada, MD of the Federal Medical Centre, Ebutte Meta, Lagos that clinched the prize for the public sector. The Lagos NMA under the leadership of Dr. Salisu Oseni credited Dr. Dada for transparent leadership, modernising facilities at FMC and showing that doctors too can be good administrators.

According to Dr. Ademolu Owoyele, transformational consultant/chief executive officer, the Ekocorp Plc, Nigerian only publicly quoted hospital group, owners of EKO Hospitals, is quite pleased having one of its own accorded such recognition in the profession. It will certainly spur the hospital and its dedicated team of medical professionals to greater and better service delivery. The Eko Hospital has been a model for group hospital practice in Nigeria, being the pioneer group practice in Nigeria. The hospital is also renowned as the premier private tertiary healthcare facility in Nigeria where health service provision and training of doctors is not just the hallmark but also focused on research. The board of directors is poised to set the hospital on a path of transformation; hence, the 2020 plan is referred to as the “transformational agenda,” he said.