After the Civil War between 1967 – 1970, the Irish Priests, as well as Reverend Sisters that had been serving as medical experts of various medical disciplines were expelled from Nigeria. The hospital structures were in ruins. St. Mary’s Joint Hospital, Amaigbo had to lie very low in its dilapidated state until the Amaigbo community through its Town Union and in cooperation with the new Imo State Government and the Catholic Church worked in concert to rehabilitate the infrastructure.
The focus of the Amaigbo Town Union was to rehabilitate the legendary School of Nursing which was destroyed during the civil war. A new building and an annex were added. A large kitchen with modern facilities to cope with the increasing student population was installed. An all-purpose vehicle was repaired by the community at great cost and a modern ambulance bought and given to the hospital and offered to serve the community free of charge. All this was done in anticipation of another inspection by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, for accreditation.
Through combined effort of the three bodies who owned the hospital, a new inspection by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria was conducted in 1979, following which, provisional recognition was given for the training of nurses. It was not until 1993 that final approval for training was received by the hospital management.
A new mortuary to support the revenue accruing to the hospital was also installed as well as a new the six-bed V.I.P ward, thus making the total number of beds in the hospital 164.
Since the end of the civil war, the Hospital has not been able to employ any medical and surgical consultant on a long-term basis due to a lack of funds.
