Strategic Leadership in Action: Highlights from the EHA Clinics Leadership Retreat
EHA Clinics began the year with strategic intent by convening leaders from across the organization in Abuja for a three-day Leadership Retreat. The retreat focused on strengthening alignment, fostering innovation, and reaffirming EHA Clinics’ commitment to patient-centered, high-quality healthcare.
More than a traditional strategy meeting, the retreat created space for reflection, learning, collaboration, and meaningful human connection. Through leadership development sessions, practical simulations, and shared experiences, leaders were challenged to think boldly while staying grounded in purpose.
Leading with Purpose in Healthcare
The retreat opened with an inspiring session on Leading with Purpose, delivered by Dr. Ifunanya Ilodibe, CEO of EHA Clinics. She emphasized that effective healthcare leadership begins with clarity—clarity of mission, values, and intent.
Dr. Ilodibe highlighted that purpose serves as a compass during periods of complexity and change. Purpose-driven leaders make sound decisions, build resilient teams, and cultivate cultures where people feel valued and motivated to deliver exceptional care. At EHA Clinics, this purpose remains firmly rooted in dignity, empathy, excellence, and equitable access to quality healthcare.
Her message set a strong tone for the retreat, reinforcing leadership as both a responsibility and a privilege.
Value-Based Marketing: Creating Impact That Truly Matters
In a thought-provoking session, Abdulkareem Iyamu, Vice President, Business Development, explored the concept of Value-Based Marketing, reframing marketing not as promotion, but as meaningful value creation.
He challenged leaders to look beyond services and products, urging a deeper focus on outcomes that matter most to patients and communities. In healthcare, success is not measured by volume alone, but by trust, experience, and tangible improvements in people’s lives.
The session reinforced EHA Clinics’ commitment to empathy, authenticity, and patient-centered thinking as essential drivers of sustainable healthcare growth.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset Every Healthcare Leader Needs
A key highlight of the retreat was a session on The Entrepreneurial Mindset, led by Babatunde Ojo, Group Chief Financial Officer. He reframed entrepreneurship as a mindset rather than a job title—one that every leader must adopt to thrive in complex and resource-constrained environments.
Babatunde outlined critical entrepreneurial traits, including creativity, resilience, strategic thinking, continuous learning, effective communication, and calculated risk-taking. Leaders were encouraged to see challenges as opportunities, learn from setbacks, and remain adaptable in an ever-changing healthcare ecosystem.
The session underscored that innovation in healthcare is intentional, driven by leaders who think entrepreneurially while upholding strong governance, compliance, and performance standards.
Expanding Impact Through EHA Pharma and REACH Clinics
The retreat also featured a strategic update from Paul Hogan, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, who shared insights into EHA Pharma and outlined plans for the year’s REACH Clinic community health initiatives.
Paul highlighted how EHA Pharma, EHA Clinics’ sister company, strengthens the healthcare ecosystem by improving access to essential medicines and pharmacy services. He also emphasized the continued expansion of REACH (Reaching Everyone with Accessible Community Health) Clinics, which deliver affordable, community-based primary healthcare to underserved populations.
This session reinforced EHA Clinics’ broader vision, one that extends beyond facilities to communities, partnerships, and sustainable health systems that prioritize access, equity, and long-term impact.
Driving Strategic Alignment Through OKRs
A core component of the retreat was the presentation of departmental Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). Each department shared its goals, progress, and priorities, receiving thoughtful feedback from leadership and peers.
These sessions strengthened cross-functional alignment, enhanced transparency, and ensured that departmental objectives were clearly connected to EHA Clinics’ overarching strategy. The outcome was a stronger sense of shared ownership, accountability, and collective purpose across the organization.
Learning by Doing: Business Simulation Exercise
To translate insight into action, leaders participated in a business simulation exercise designed to test decision-making, collaboration, financial acumen, and leadership under pressure.
The exercise sparked healthy competition, strategic debate, and creative problem-solving. The winning team received a ₦300,000 prize, recognizing not just performance, but teamwork, resilience, and innovative thinking, qualities essential to effective healthcare leadership.
Beyond Strategy: Building Connection and Culture
While the retreat delivered strong strategic and learning outcomes, it also created space for connection and renewal. Leaders engaged in games, team activities, and shared meals filled with laughter, storytelling, and candid conversations.
These moments strengthened relationships, broke down silos, and reinforced EHA Clinics’ culture, one that values trust, collaboration, and the human connections that underpin great healthcare organizations.
Leadership Rooted in Purpose and People
At the close of the three days, leaders left Abuja energized, aligned, and deeply connected, equipped with clearer strategies, sharper mindsets, and a renewed commitment to leading with empathy, courage, and purpose.
The EHA Clinics Leadership Retreat reaffirmed a simple but powerful truth:great healthcare starts with great leadership, leadership that is human, entrepreneurial, and purpose-driven.