Dr Izaq Salako, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, says the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, is positioned to play a part in government’s efforts to reverse medical tourism in the country.
Salako, who said this on Friday during his visit to the hospital in Lagos, commended its management and members of staff for renewing Nigerians’ hopes in the country’s health system through its services.
He noted that in spite of the limited space available at the FMC Ebute Meta, its management was able to use the challenge to its advantage.
The minister said: “Space is a challenge here but within that limited space, I can see a lot of creativity to make sure that those small things are optimally utilised.
“There is a lot of digital penetration in the facility. The paperless system was demonstrated to me and I saw it work and I also saw the kind of supportive equipments that are available which are of good quality.
“I think that the FMC is positioned to play a very good part in President Bola Tinubu’s agenda to reverse the direction of medical tourism.
“I think I can call this place excellent with what I have seen on ground and there are still areas we can do better.”
Dr Adedamola Dada, the Medical Director of the hospital, said while responding to the minister, that the hospital had recorded significant feats in the last seven years.
Dada said the hospital’s annual patients had risen from 50,000 to over 200,000 in the last seven years, while its bed space had also increased from 72 beds when he assumed leadership to 450 beds.
“When we came in seven and a half years ago, it was like it was an impossible task because public hospitals were known then to be centres where essentially the quality of service was probably not too strong.
“The power of planning also helped us. We have a plan that we are following and are able to maximally utilise what we have to serve the maximum number of patients that we can.
“We brought in good equipment, motivated our workforce, expanded our services, introduced technology into the practice of medicine so that it can make the patient’s journey faster and easier,” he said.
Dada commended the hospital’s workforce for their resilience and contribution in moving the hospital forward.
He noted that the hospital was the only public tertiary hospital that was on Safe Care Level 4 in the country.
“We still remain the only public tertiary hospital that is on Safe Care Level 4, and all of that has been possible with the support of the workforce,” the medical director said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister visited the hospital’s drug store, physiotherapy department, dialysis centre, training centre, paediatric building and the server room.
He also went to the plant yard, oxygen plant, clinical building and accident and emergency building. (NAN)
