St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital Onitsha Receives Archbishop Okeke, Appreciates Staff

By Polycarp Ifeanyi, Onitsha

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Management, and staff of St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital Onitsha, Anambra State have joyfully received their Proprietor, the Archbishop of Onitsha and  Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke on his annual pastoral visit.

The event began with Eucharistic Celebration, presided by Archbishop Okeke, alongside other priests including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hospital, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Izunna Okonkwo.

Featuring gift items and cash award to outstanding staff who performed wonderfully well both in character, competence and responsibility, the event attracted the presence of all the staff of the Hospital, numerous Priests, Religious and friends including the Chairman Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Vera Nwadinobi.

Archbishop Okeke, during the Mass offered prayers in thanksgiving to God, for his blessings and favors on the hospital: Management, and staff, praying also for God to continue to use them, to heal the sick

Delivering his homily, the Archbishop said, ” What we are doing is giving thanks to God. We thank God for those who He use to manage our facilities in the hospital. We are praying for all of you and ask God to accept our gratitude and increase our blessings.” 

The prelate further admonished that gratitude is obligation and also a duty. ” If someone gives you something, say thank you to the person. If you accepted anything from someone, it is your obligation to thank the person. If you fail to thank the person, you are wicked”

” So, we give thanks to God because we are alive. Many of our colleagues and friends have died but, we are still living up still today. All these are blessings from God. God has blessed St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital in all ramifications. If you want to be blessed, give  thanks to God”  Said the Archbishop.
   
Appreciating his guests, the  Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital (CEO), Very Rev. Dr.  Izunna Okonkwo affirmed that St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital is great and the biggest Hospital in the sub-sahara Africa, even as he described it as a Holy Land which according to him was visited by  St. Pope Paul VI in 1962, as the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, St. Pope John Paul II, in 1982.

He specifically rained encomium on Archbishop Okeke, appreciating him for his love and generosity to the hospital, and his ability to visit them irrespective of his tight schedules.

Fr. Ezeudo as he is fondly called, meticulously appreciated, lauded all his guests ranging from Rectors of Seminary which included; Very Rev. Fr. Fabian Obi of Blessed Iwene Tansi Major Seminary Onitsha, All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha’s Very Rev. Fr. Pascal Okonkwo, priests and Religious as well as Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Damian Akpunonu amongst other.

In the address/ report which he presented, the CEO of the hospital outlined numerous achievements of Archbishop Okeke as intimidating and second to none, saying that the Archbishop deserve to be publicly appreciated.

Among the numerous achievements which he mentioned included; payment of #500,000 hospital bill for indigent patients, payment of hospital bills for priests of Onitsha Archdiocese, Nuns of St. Benedictine monastery, approving further studies for the Hospital’s Deputy CEO, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ndulue, built skills acquisition for the inmates of Onitsha Correctional center, creation of Aguleri diocese, amongst other.

The cleric also eulogized all members of Onitsha Archdiocesan Hospital Governing board, and Health coordinator of Onitsha Archdiocesan Hospitals, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Basil Ekwunife, just as he mentioned some of the achievements of the Hospital as follows; increasing salary of all staff, Hosting of their Hungerian family Medicine Consultant, procured three Heamodialysis Machine, Trained Nurses Traveling abroad, promoted some staff amongst other.

Some of the staff who were appreciated  included; Calista Ezisi (Health Care Attendant), Ifeyinwa Orakwe ( Medical Record Staff) Felicia  Achuonye ( Bill Officer), Victor Ibeme ( Dialysis Technician) and Felicia Okwuchukwu who was also given a substantial monetary gift as the Hospital’s 2023 Extraordinarily Outstanding Staff

Others are Silver jubilarians; Chief Nursing Officer, Obioma Aduaka and Hellen Okafor; while retiring staff included; Matron Joy Osunkwo, Pricilla Ekwu and Monica Ekum. They were all given big plasma television, Cash and quality high target cloth.

Archbishop Okeke thanked Staff and Management of the Hospital for the items presented to him and promised to give them one bag of rice each as well as Cash for the Christmas festival, even as Felicia Okwuchukwu, Monica Ekum expressed gratitude to the Hospital for the gifts and cash given to them.