No fewer than 800 primary health care workers have been recruited by the Bayelsa state government into its Unified Local Government Service.
The new employees, including 19 medical doctors and 204 nurses and midwives, were formally received at an orientation programme organised by the Local Government Service Commission and the State Primary Health Care Management Board yesterday at the Yenagoa Local Government Council Secretariat.
Deputy Governor, Dr Peter Akpe, represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Deputy Governor’s Office, Mr. Gowon Toruyouyei, described the exercise as the single largest bloc employment ever in the local government system.
He said the beneficiaries were considered first because of their sacrifices as volunteers under the GAVI Health Systems Strengthening programme, noting that Governor Douye Diri is known for rewarding hard work and dedication.
Akpe described primary health care as an essential service and the foundation upon which tertiary health care stands.
He charged the new workers to justify the confidence reposed in them and frowned at absenteeism among PHC staff, particularly in hinterland communities.
Chairman, Bayelsa State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Lambert Ototo, said the workers had served as volunteers for two to three years before Governor Diri approved their employment.
He said the orientation marked their transition from volunteer status to bonafide employees of the unified local government service, and warned that the Commission would embark on routine inspection of health centres to monitor attendance.
‘The governor, in his love for youths of Bayelsa State, graciously approved the employment of not less than 800 persons into a very critical sector,’ Ototo said.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, said the recruitment represents a paradigm shift in the health sector, creating a foundation that will improve health outcomes.
Brisibe disclosed that Bayelsa now has a minimum of two PHC centres per ward, each linked to at least one cottage hospital per State Assembly constituency, while each local government area has either a referral or comprehensive general hospital. All facilities are now interconnected through dedicated phone lines.
He said for the first time in a long while, 19 doctors and 204 nurses and midwives have been employed directly into the primary health care system, with doctors scheduled to hold periodic clinical days at PHC facilities.
He charged the workers to work as a team to ensure that no child under five and no pregnant mother dies from preventable complications, and recalled how the renovation and solarization of the Ogbotubo community health centre led to 13 safe deliveries within three weeks.
Executive Secretary, Bayelsa State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Williams Appah, described the recruitment as historic, saying it demonstrates Governor Diri’s commitment to the health needs of rural dwellers, pregnant women and children.
Appah, however, warned against truancy, presenteeism, indecent dressing and illegal collection of money from patients already covered by the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
He said the Board has introduced ODK monitoring and electronic medical records via Android phones, adding that reporting, attendance and prescriptions will now be done electronically.
‘If you do not use the ODK and do not go to work, there will be no salary. The era when PHC staff work without Android phones has passed,’ he said.
Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Dr. Amokiese Godwin, in her welcome remarks, said the Commission had been pushing for the employment since 2021 without success until now, and described the appointment as a call to service at the grassroots.