Federal government upgrades Plateau hospital to National Trauma Centre and deploys 15 ambulances

Riyom General Hospital in Nigeria’s Plateau State has been upgraded to a National Trauma Centre, with 15 ambulances deployed to improve emergency care.

The hospital will operate as an outpost of Jos University Teaching Hospital under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, launched in Riyom. The ambulance fleet includes five conventional emergency buses and 10 tricycle ambulances intended for rural and hard-to-reach communities.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang, represented by Deputy Governor Josephine Piyo, said the investment supported Plateau’s policy of ensuring that distance, cost and transport problems do not prevent residents from receiving medical care. He said the state had already bought five ambulance buses through its own emergency medical services programme, while tricycle ambulances had been supplied to Jos East and Riyom local government areas through a maternal and newborn mortality initiative.

Kachollom Daju, permanent secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, announced the federal approval of the Riyom facility. She credited the Plateau government’s decision to transfer the hospital to federal control and said the ambulances would be reserved for emergency services through different NEMSAS programmes.

PLASEMSAS will provide free emergency transportation within Plateau State. The Federal Tertiary Facility Pathway will offer vulnerable patients free emergency treatment for up to 48 hours, while REST-M will transport pregnant women and newborns from rural communities. JUTH chief medical director Pokop Bupwatda said the system would help providers reach patients faster and take them to facilities equipped to deliver definitive treatment.

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Residents were not denied medical care because of distance, cost or lack of transportation.