Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state has bemoaned that not fewer than 170 medical professionals quit the state civil service in the last three months for greener pastures.
Speaking at the commissioning of an N350million ultra-modern medical center situated in the General Hospital, Offa town, Offa local government area of Kwara state, constructed by an indigenous association, the Offa Metropolitan Club (OMC) on Saturday, the governor said that state government cannot manage healthcare alone.
The governor, who was visibly excited over the project by the community, said that the state government would support the initiative for benefit of the people.
He also said that the project would put pressure on the government facility sort of, saying, “As a government, we cannot come in and see an institution like this and see our own dilapidated. It puts pressure on us to also make sure we do well on the government side”, he said.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on Finance and Economy, Sarah Alade, who is also the president of the OMC, called for community-based collaborations as part of measures to tackle prevailing challenges in the nation’s health sector.
Alade said that the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass emigration of healthcare workers, and the current fiscal realities on the ground would limit speedy transformation in the medical field shortly.
Sarah Alade, who was former acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the cumulative effect of the situations had shown that the government cannot do it alone, adding that the development led the club to conceive the idea of building a medical facility to complement efforts of the government in the health sector.
Alade, who said that the medical facility is in fulfillment of the group’s pledge to boost quality health services in the Offa community and its environs, added that the facility would be equipped with specialized medical screening and diagnostic facilities.
The OMC President also said that the club had initiated a health trust fund to make the facility accessible to all classes of indigenes, just as she solicited support from well-to-do individuals to key into it through the government health insurance scheme.
Chairman BOT of the club, Dr. Funsho Oladipo, who was represented by Dr. Layi Bello, said that the hospital project was founded on the need to provide high-quality medical services to the people of Offa and its surroundings.
“I believe that this project will serve as a template that will be replicated across Kwara state, which will not only provide health care services to the people of the communities but also create jobs. At the inception of this project, the OMC Medical Center planning committee members had the vision to build a one-of-a-kind medical center with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that the people of Offa and its environs benefit immeasurably. We involved a vast number of experts to ensure we delivered nothing but the best to our people and the result is what we see before us today, this center has been designed to provide comprehensive quality medical services as a complement to the services already being provided by the Offa General Hospital.
“Following today’s commissioning, the center will begin providing top-class diagnostic services such as hematology, chemical pathology, microbiology, and histopathology. The services delivered within the center will be expanded to provide diagnostic imaging, beginning with digital X-ray and progressing to CT scan and finally MRI. This is to ensure that, in addition to the assistance these services will provide to the people of Offa and its surrounds, we will increase the
availability of advanced imaging in Kwara state.
“The center will also provide clinical services, beginning with primary and secondary care and soon progressing to a tertiary level center to cater to varying healthcare needs of the community and its adjacent towns and cities. The center will include a pharmacy that will serve patients from both inside and outside of our community.
The OMC’s efforts to establish this Medical Center align with those of the Kwara state Ministry of Health, which has underlined the importance of increasing the well-being of the people of Kwara state by assuring access to quality health care services and deepening Universal Health Care (UHC).
“We are committed to supporting the government’s efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, providing urgent care services for emergencies, and eliminating Malaria and other diseases, which we hope wIll be achieved
following the commissioning of this project.
“As a member of the OMC Medical Center Planning Committee, I am immensely proud and honored that as a team, we have demonstrated that when determination and the desire to succeed are there, anything is possible. And, with the help of God
we shall continue to do more for the benefit of the people of Offa and its surroundings”
