By Dayo Johnson Akure

The Chief Medical Director of FUTA Teaching Hospital, Akure, Professor Olusegun Ojo, has said that the hospital has recorded major milestones within the hospital’s first year of operation.

Prof. Ojo who said this while addressing newsmen on the first year anniversary of the hospital, said they include the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ondo State Government for the takeover of the facility and the verification of inherited staff to create the hospital’s official nominal roll.

He added that “We have also constituted the hospital’s top management team to provide strategic leadership and held a maiden management retreat to develop the hospital’s strategic blueprint,”

” New units and departments had been created to strengthen governance and service delivery within the institution, but which include, the SERVICOM unit, Planning, Research and Statistics unit, Protocol and Public Relations unit, as well as specialised departments such as Infectious Diseases and Oncology, Molecular Biology and Translational Medicine.

The CMD said, ” looking ahead, the hospital is planning major infrastructure and service upgrades to position it as a modern tertiary healthcare centre

“We are committed to major infrastructure upgrades including new outpatient clinics, expanded inpatient wards, a modern emergency medicine department, upgraded pathology laboratories and modular operating theatres.

“We are also working towards acquiring advanced diagnostic equipment such as CT scans, MRI machines, digital X-ray systems, echocardiography machines and endoscopy systems to meet both national and international standards”

Prof. Ojo said the hospital also intends to begin residency and fellowship training programmes while strengthening research activities in key health areas.

“We will soon launch residency and fellowship training programmes focused on research into tropical diseases, maternal health, non-communicable diseases and mental health.

“The establishment of the federal tertiary health institution represents a deliberate policy intervention by the Federal Government to strengthen specialised healthcare delivery, training and research in Ondo State and the South-West region.

According to him “the transformation of the former State Specialist Hospital into a federal teaching hospital was a strategic move aimed at addressing longstanding gaps in specialised medical services in the state.

” The hospital was created following the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and implemented through the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, with the collaboration of the Ondo state government led by Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

“It is with profound gratitude to God and renewed optimism that I stand before you today to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of FUTA Teaching Hospital, Akure

“Exactly one year ago, under the visionary directive of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and with the collaborative support of the Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Dr Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, we embarked on this historic journey.”

The CMD explained that the hospital, which had served residents of Akure and surrounding communities for decades, had become overstretched due to population growth and the rising complexity of healthcare needs.

He noted that the facility, originally established in 1951 and later used as an annex of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, struggled to meet the increasing demand for specialised services such as cardiology, cancer treatment, neurosurgery, dialysis and intensive care.

“For many years, residents had to travel to centres in Ibadan, Ile-Ife, Lagos, Abuja and sometimes overseas for specialised treatment.
This often led to delays in accessing care, higher personal medical costs and economic drain for the country,” he said.

Ojo explained that the approval of the MBBS programme for the College of Health Sciences of Federal University of Technology Akure by the National Universities Commission helped accelerate the push for the creation of a federal teaching hospital in Akure.

“Today, the former UNIMEDTH Annex, Akure, is serving as our operational take-off site while we prepare our future headquarters.

“Currently, we are transitioning from a general hospital structure into a structured federal tertiary academic medical centre with emphasis on improved work ethics, professionalism and patient-centred accountability.

Speaking on the challenges confronting the institution, Ojo said one of the biggest challenges encountered in the first year was restructuring the workforce into a federal tertiary hospital system.

“For a pioneer institution, we are essentially kick-starting what did not exist before, which is a federal tertiary hospital organogram.

“Organogram is about how humans organise themselves into a purposeful delivery of services. Restructuring workers who were not previously operating under that system requires education, reorientation and adjustment in the flow of authority.

“In the year of our creation, the budget had already started to be implemented, so we didn’t have a budget initially. Funding was therefore a challenge in the early months,”

He however, commended the state government and the Akure community and the state government for providing critical support that enabled the hospital to stabilise its operations.

“I would like to commend the leaders of the Akure community for their support saying the state government and who rose to the Deji of Akure rallied support that helped us establish our initial operations.

Prif Ojo said that ” The governor, Dr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has been very supportive. He has always assured me that whenever we need his attention, we should reach out directly. That level of support is more than anyone in my position could wish for.