Owerri — The Imo State government says plans are underway to establish 27 new general hospitals and 81 health centres in the state.

Governor Rochas Okorocha, who disclosed this in Owerri yesterday during an interactive meeting with members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said his administration would also introduce a Health Insurance Policy.

He added that the government had approved the payment of the new salary structure for doctors in the state, appealing to them to support government's efforts towards making the state a model.

According to him, "from March 2012, no subvention will be given to the health sector. Doctors should work towards initiating ideas that will enable them pay their workers".

The governor also expressed his administration's readiness to check the activities of armed robbers and kidnappers in the state.

In his remark, the state chairman of the NMA, Dr Boniface Okorochukwu said the association was prepared to meet with the challenges confronting the health sector, noting that the standard of services rendered by hospitals in the state has improved.

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