Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, avowed his resolve to address the various challenges affecting the effective functionality of the annex of the University College Hospital (UCH) sited in Sepeteri, Oke-Ogun area of the state.
Makinde gave this assurance when the board of management of UCH, led by Mr Ibrahim Shettima paid him a courtesy visit at governor’s office, Ibadan.
Years after former Senate President, David Mark, commissioned the remodelled Sepeteri annex in 2014, the health centre has continued to grapple with the challenge of epileptic power hampering the effective operation of the blood bank and x-ray unit, while the staff quarters are also deemed inhabitable and insecure.
The Comprehensive Health Centre rehabilitated by former Senate deputy whip, Mr Hosea Agboola, as part of his constituency project for the year 2013, was commissioned with the hope that the centre would greatly improve access to quality healthcare for residents in the entire Oke-Ogun area.
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While assuring of government’s commitment to ensuring that the Sepeteri annex functions to its optimum, Makinde implored the management of the UCH to support the annex by deploying its excess capacity to the state’s primary and secondary healthcare facilities.
“We’ll continue to look up to institutions like UCH to assist us to collaborate with us. The commissioner for health and his team are currently engaged in discussions with the management of UCH towards having some of the excess capacity deployed to support our secondary health institutions in Oyo State.
“I recall that the Chairman, state advisory council, Hosea Agboola, as a Senator brought UCH closer to the grassroots with a facility at Sepeteri, in Saki East local government.
“We want that place to remain functional and if there are challenges that we need to be aware of as a government, we are ready, willing to ensure that the objective of that place continues to be realised,” Makinde said.
Speaking further, Makinde bemoaned the continued degeneration in the nation’s health care system, urging all stakeholders in the polity to see themselves as responsible to revamp the health sector.
“Mid 50s, UCH was rated far high among the Commonwealth countries, even higher than the University College, London. For example, my father passed away in an Indian hospital. So, we have basically derailed from the trajectory our founding fathers set for us as a country.
“We have to hold ourselves responsible and accountable to change the narrative, put in our best such that a few years from now, people won’t continue to say that though UCH had the first open-heart surgery in the country, it has not leveraged on that to raise the bar,” Makinde said.
In his remarks, Chairman, UCH Management Board, Ibrahim Shettima appealed to the Makinde led administration to give attention to the renovation and fixing of the state endowed special baby care unit at UCH.
“That Oyo has endowed to UCH a special baby care unit since the 1980s meant for babies born with some deformities and still need some correctional medical actions to be taken. There is need for re-tooling, renovation of the place and we appeal to the state government to pay attention to that,” Shettima said.
The UCH’s visit was followed by the inauguration of the Oyo State Judicial Service Commission headed by state Chief Judge, Munta Abimbola.
Other members of the commission inaugurated are President, Oyo state Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Eni Esan; state honourable commissioner for justice, Professor Oyelowo Oyewo; Mr Kehinde Alade; Mr Yusuf Olatunji; Mr Lateef Adetunji; Mr Adedigba Wahab and Mrs Medinat Akanbi.
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