From BOADE OJUAIYE, Ogbomoso
There is a wave of joy and jubilation at the moment sweeping through Ogbomosho in Oyo State. Residents of the ancient university town north of Oyo State are said to be experiencing a new lease of life as the teaching hospital in their community has retooled and opened its doors for 24-hours uninterrupted service delivery.
The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Daily Sun gathered has upped its services delivery to the people, having acquired new equipment, enlarged its departments and employed more top quality medical professionals. And with this new level of development, the institution is said to be set to join its counterparts in the country to offer more specialised medical services to the Nigerian community. continue...
Earlier on, it was rumoured that the university’s teaching hospital had gone moribund. But contrary to the erroneous impression that the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital had been abandoned, the facility has bounced back to reckoning. And now, it has emerged that the health institution has commenced 24-hours, full clinical services.
According to reports available to Daily Sun, a renowned psychiatrist and mental health consultant, Professor Oladele Olabisi Sijuwola, has been appointed as the institution’s Chief Medical Director, while a seasoned orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Wale Olakunlehin, is now to serve as chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the teaching hospital.
At the moment, the hospital it was revealed has 11 departments, namely: medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, radiology, community medicine and family medicine. Others are paediatrics, nursing, chemical pathology, histopathology and hematology.
There is also a dialysis centre to cater for patients suffering from kidney failure at the Cardiology unit with a state-of-the-art echo cardiogram, mobile x-ray and electrocardiography facilities as well as well-equipped, ultra-modern laboratories and theatres.
The health institution is said to have acquired a plant for the production of oxygen. The output, it was revealed, would not only be sufficient to serve the need of the hospital, but would as well be commercialised in no time.
About 10,000 megawatts of electricity have been dedicated to the teaching hospital by the erstwhile Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) from the special power station at Ganmo, Ilorin in Kwara State. That will ensure constant electricity supply. The hospital was said to have gone ahead to acquire additional five, huge, automatic electricity generating plants.
Water supply to the institution would no longer be a problem. For now, a dedicated dam has been constructed and water is being piped to serve the hospital. Additional two million-litre capacity surface tank and 500,000 litre capacity overhead tank are already in place. A water heater home has also been completed to ensure that the hospital functions at optimum capacity.
On the accommodation for house officers, 60 fully air conditioned suites for resident doctors and consultants have been built. Forty consultants in various departments of medicine, it was further revealed, are currently working in the hospital.
Findings also showed that the hospital in Ogbomoso has eight suites of operating theatres, four of which are functioning, while others are under construction.
And now, about 60 resident doctors and consultants are attending to patients streaming into the hospital daily from within and outside Ogbomoso. Patients whose cases required intensive care are admitted there while other out patients are being treated.
When our correspondent visited the hospital recently, patients were seen weaving in and out of the facility. A woman who was delivered of a baby boy was giving thanks although she was still on admission.
Some of the patients interviewed: Messes Lydia Alaba, Bisi Adebogun, and Kemi Omola all expressed satisfaction with the quality of services being rendered by both the doctors and nurses. “We are being promptly attended to without any stress. We are very happy with the change we are witnessing here,” the trio said.
The Acting Head of Department of Paediatrics, Dr. Michael Onigbinde, and Head of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Adetunji Oguntola, applauded the new look teaching hospital. The health experts said in terms of up-to-date facilities and experienced personnel, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital Ogbomso was now second to none among teaching hospitals in the country.
“The teaching hospital in Ogbomoso is now a top facility for the training of medical students. Its facilities so far have been expanded. Before now, some medical experts had left on the grounds of poor and inadequate working environment. But now, things are looking up here,” the duo said.
They asserted that, “as experts in medical field, we can confirm to you that some of the facilities at the Ogbomoso teaching hospital cannot be found in some teaching hospitals in the country, including the ones owned by the Federal government. But unfortunately, the medical students in Osogbo are being misinformed, and given the impression that there is nothing on ground here in Ogbomoso. We advise students to come over here and realise their future aspirations.”
On the fees being charged for service delivered, the doctors informed our correspondent that charges were neither exorbitant nor beyond the reach of the people, noting that “of what benefit would the hospital be to the people of the community, most of whom are the down-trodden if it does not take good care of them? When fees charged for services are not affordable, the idea of the hospital being for the people will not make sense.”
While commending the Oyo State government for financially backing the teaching hospital, they further disclosed that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) team would soon visit the health institution to accredit it programmes.
“But before that, we want to put a few other necessary things in place, although we are already standing on a firm ground. For instance, approval has been granted for the procurement of additional ambulances. It will also interest you to hear that the teaching hospital was initially built to accommodate 1,000 patients. But with the facilities on ground, we can now take care of patients beyond that figure. And this is true! This is why we (resident doctors and consultants) are happy to say that things are better now than in the days when we were in Osogbo,” they stated.”
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