The House of Representatives Committee on Health has announced the likely upgrade of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo in Ondo State, to a teaching hospital.

The chairman of the committee, Amos Magaji, made this known while on an inspection tour of the facilities at the hospital on Sunday, December 3, 2023.

The committee met with the management of the hospital, led by the Chief Medical Director, Liasu Adeagbo, staff and labour unions.

The team also inspected some facilities in the hospital, including the Accident and Emergency section, Research centre, Isolation ward, Molecular laboratory, Radiology department, and General Outpatient building under construction, among others.

Magaji 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 in one day.

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

He commended the management of FMC Owo for keeping the hospital clean and “making good use of the little resources they have to provide qualitative health services to the people”.

The lawmaker stated that the issues of employment and replacement of workers in the health sector must be taken as an emergency, adding: “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.”

On his part, Adeagbo said the visit would assist the committee to provide solutions to the challenges facing the hospital.

He added that the visit would also provide adequate information to the committee on how funds released to the institution had been 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,” he said.

The CMD noted that the hospital is battling with the funding of patients who cannot afford to pay their bills after treatment.

Adeagbo said: “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 government has said that nobody should die because they don’t have money.”

The Star