Oyo’s Adeoyo hospital: ‘We now have more patients…’

Adeoyo Hospital, Ring Road, Ibadan, was a shadow of its past glory for many years courtesy of prolonged neglect by successive administrations in the state. For a hospital that outshined many other medical centres in the 70s and 80s, the impact of neglect was extreme and  damaging. The hospital had offered rudimentary medical services for about two and half decades due to acute shortage of personnel, equipment and medical consumables until recently.

Adeoyo State Hospital is gradually bouncing back to reckoning as the state government recently declared an emergency on its rehabilitation. The story of the hospital changed when Governor Seyi Makinde, on assumption of duty in May this year, visited. He expressed shock at its deplorable state and promised to change its story for good.

Structures in the hospital are being rehabilitated just as more medical personnel are being posted to boost its services. When Saturday Tribune visited on Wednesday, the road leading to the hospital was already tarred while the roads and other facilities within the hospital were being rehabilitated.

A staff of the hospital, who gave his name simply as Femi, said: “We now have more patients as more people are now attracted to the hospital. Members of the public are aware of the progress being made; they are encouraged.”

An octogenarian, Mrs Afusat Adejumo, who came for checkup, expressed joy on the ongoing rehabilitation of the hospital. Maintaining that health is wealth, she advised all the local government councils across Oyo State to emulate the gesture of the state government.

Another patient, Mr L.D Akano, recalled that the hospital was a leading light in the 70s. He said: “Adeoyo Hospital had carved a niche for itself as a leading medical institution in the state between mid-70s and early 90s. At some point, the hospital services began to degenerate. I think that it was affected by the rot in our society.”

The CMD of the hospital, Dr Olufemi Adesanya, who disclosed that he used to visit the hospital with his father between 1975 and early 1980s as a child, said that in those days, Adeoyo hospital was a medical and convalescent centre with high standard.

He recalled that the period was the golden age of the country when medical services were assuring and dedication to duty was an hallmark. The rich, the middle class and the poor used to feel free and safe to get  quality medical care at the top-notch medical centre which had several successes to its credit until the glory waned.

Dr Adesanya said that Governor Makinde is starting well by changing the story of the hospital. He said barely three months ago when the governor visited the hospital, he was disatisfied with the level of decadence.

When Saturday Tribune visited the hospital few days after the governor’s assessment of the facility, the bush in front of the hospital were being cut with some maintenance services being carried out.

Filled with excitement, the hospital management are currently reviewing the governor’s assessment visit with hope and resolve to support the drive. According to them, it is heartwarming that a team of professionals and contractors visited the hospital barely 24 hours after the governor’s visit to the hospital.

The CMD said: “We are glad that the governor paid a visit to us and he made a promise towards key areas. Precisely, a day after his visit there has been responses from contractors who were to make supplies. A team came to initate the upgrading and furnishing of theatre suites starting with suite one. Then, the radiology, with respect to digital X-ray is being looked into. We are coming from a background where we had a downturn in glory but we want to believe that things will change.”

Dr Adesanya stated that if positioned to function at full capacity, a third of patients going to the University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan for treatment would rather come to the state hospital for treatment. He said that this, in turn, would lessen the pressure on UCH facilities. This would enable the tertiary hospital to concentrate on medical research rather than engaging in basic health services’ delivery which could be handled by smaller hospitals.

“It has been my desire that this hospital will be restored to its lost glory. You need to go back to the archives to know what this hospital was like in 1971 when it was commissioned. I was born in Ibadan and I grew up here. When I was young my dad used to bring me here. I told the governor that I had operated in the theater of this hospital many years back. We lost all that and we are just trusting God that the initiative by this administration will not be a mirage.

“I am trusting God that very soon we are going to have 24 hours surgery services. As a surgeon, I know what it means to have 24-hour surgery services. Patients will come at 1am and would have been operated by 3am,” the CMD said.

Saturday Tribune gathered that before the governor’s visit, the key areas where the hospital had challenges were epileptic electricity supply, shortage of personnel, inadequate medical supplies especially at the casualty ward and problem of outdated medical equipment among others.

Adesanya said: “Our area of challenge is a spectrum spanning from basic issues. For instance in the casualty, we now have stable electricity that is up to 22 to 23 hours a day direct line. We are hoping that this hospital will have the bushy environment constantly cleared. We are trusting the government to help us in the area of personnel. We need more doctors and nurses, medical record officers etc. We want something done in the area of salary too.”

Although the hospital has a retinue of qualified medical professionals, only a little can be done unless the facilities to do the work are provided. Checks by Saturday Tribune show that the hospital has consultants in orthopaedic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, anaesthesia, general surgery, productivity, maxillo facial surgery and nephrology.

During his visits to the state hospital at Ring Road and Yemetu, the governor had said: “Our aspiration is to ensure that people receive world class treatment here. We don’t want everybody to be going to University College Hospital.

“We will make this hospital become very high standard that will be close to UCH standard. Health is one of the major pillars that my administration will rest on and will ensure that quality healthcare is available to the people.

“We would turn the hospital and other health centres across the state to world class health centres that would be conducive for patients with a view to receiving quality treatment.”

If the commitment by the new administration in the state is kept, stakeholders have said that life would be better for the people as it would impact social and economic developments of the state.