Presidency to Convert State House Medical Centre to Clinic

To make the State House Medical Centre perform optimally, the Presidency will turn it into a clinic.

However, some staffers at the State House are kicking against the proposal, alleging that the idea was to privatise the centre and make cost of medical services unaffordable.

But the Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, said the efforts of the government in repositioning the centre was to make it a functional entity with the best medical services.

Arabi denied insinuations in some quarters that the Presidency plans to privatise the centre, thereby putting it beyond workers of lower income.

He said: “The delighting thing is the fact that all those working there are civil servants, part and parcel of the system, so nobody will lose out. But talking frankly is the desire to get the place functioning and functioning well, which informed the decision to revert it to the status of a clinic. That was what it was meant to be, that was the concept. But nobody is going to lose out.”

On the cost government will save, Arabi said: “The intention is that, having known where we are in terms of budgeting system and of course, in terms of revenue as government is now faced with these challenges. It is going to be a case of cutting our coat according to our size and it will be good to go. I am sure everybody will be happy with this development.”