House committee to upgrade FMC Owo to teaching hospital

The House of Representatives Committee on Health has announced that the Federal Medical Centre Owo, would be upgraded to a teaching hospital.

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The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Amos Magaji, stated during an inspection tour of the facilities at the hospital on Sunday.

This decision followed a meeting of the committee with the management of the hospital, led by the Chief Medical Director, Liasu Adeagbo, staff and labour unions.

Mogaji said, “We will look at how Federal Medical Centre, Owo can be upgraded to a teaching hospital and ensure that it is done through a due process which cannot be done in one day.

“We will look at the law and we will also look at the policies.”

Mogaji said that the issues of employment and replacement of workers in the health sector must be taken as an emergency.

“When we get to Abuja, we will see how we can tackle all the issues that were tabled by the relevant agencies of government and find a way of dealing with human resources.

“There is no sector of the economy that has this japa syndrome like the health sector,” Magaji noted.

He commended the management of the health facility for maintaining high sanitary standards and making good use of the little resources they have to provide qualitative health services to the people.

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Liasu Adeagbo, while responding said the visit would assist the committee to provide solutions to the challenges facing the hospital.

“The visit would also provide adequate information to the committee on how funds released to the institution were utilised.

“The committee has been able to see what we have done with the money released to the hospital and the working environment.

“It will help us not to talk much when we go for budget defence,” the CMD said.

Adeagbo revealed that the hospital is battling to pay the bills of patients who cannot afford payment after treatment.

He stated that, “Some of the challenges we have here are common while some are peculiar. When you talk about the funding of the hospital now, it is critical.

“Medications are very expensive now that many people cannot pay and the government has said that nobody should die because they don’t have money.”