Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, Chief Medical Director (CMD), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has said that the hospital will required not less than N100 billion to upgrade its decayed facilities.
Besides, the CMD also urged state governments in Nigeria to rejuvenate secondary and primary healthcare to lessen the burden on tertiary health institutions.
Prof. Otegbayo stated this on Tuesday in Ibadan during a press briefing marking the hospital’s 62nd Foundation Day.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, had earlier inaugurated the two sets of dialysis machines, worth N10 million, which he donated to the hospital.
Otegbayo listed the top priority needs of the hospital to include equipment, water regulator, uninterrupted power supply, training of staff locally and internationally as well as building of infrastructure.
He said that facilities at the health institution had been overstretched, adding that if the state governments had woken up to their responsibilities, tertiary hospitals would have been able to face their mandate and provide quality care for patients with advanced cases.
“For instance, we have the only Accidents and Emergency (A&E) Department in the whole of Ibadan, with its population and in the whole of Oyo State, apart from Bowen University Teaching Hospital that has a much smaller A&E department.
“We receive patients from all over. Our clinics are now congested; people are there standing, doctors and nurses work more than they should do.
“We also need extension of the wards and we have lands, but we need good-spirited people to help us.
“Government cannot do it alone; even in overseas, it is not government alone that does it; most of the hospitals our people go to are either privately-owned or owned and run by a group of people.
“We will continue to do our best to offer best care within the limit of what we have,” he said.
The CMD said that since he assumed duty with his management team, service delivery had greatly improved in the hospital.
“If you go round the ward, the A&E department and wards now have stainless chairs for the use of patients’ relations. This has put a stop to relatives sitting on bare floor or on staircases while caring for their sick.
“Welfare of members of staff is also a priority and we have been doing a lot to make true our promise.
“Also we have been able to raise a team of influential Nigerians to be on the board of trustees of a body named “Oritamefa Health Foundation”.
“We believe this will help improve the services and facilities at the hospital,” Otegbayo said.
The UCH boss expressed appreciation to Adeboye for the donation of dialysis machines, stating that the hospital was in dire need of the machine, as kidney was an essential organ in the body.
“We look at the people who access our services all over the country; some of them don’t have money to pay for this, because it costs about N40,000 per week.
“The disease is rampant and it is increasing; so we are very grateful for get something that will be beneficial to mankind and we glorify God for that,” Otegbayo said.
In his remarks, Adeboye said that he was delighted to have contributed to the care of kidney patients, considering the nature of the disease.
“When I was growing up, everybody looked up to this hospital. At a time, people never thought of going abroad for treatment because they believed that when they get to UCH, their problems would be solved.
“With the enormous need of UCH, I know we can start from somewhere. Though I know it is going to take billions of naira to bring back the lost glory of the hospital, if human beings can’t help us, we can go to the all-sufficient God.
“Kidney is a very vital organ in the body. I have seen people with kidney problems; mere looking at them is heart-rending,” he said
The RCCG general overseer promised to donate two more dialysis machines to the hospital before the end of the year.