From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
A team from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has visited the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, on facility inspection and preparation towards conversion of the hospital to Federal University Lokoja Teaching Hospital (FULTH).
In her remarks, the Team Lead, Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, Director Hospital Services, FMoH, Abuja, said the team was in Lokoja on behalf of the Hon. Minister for State Sen. Olorunibe Mamora to inspect the hospital facilities.
According to her, the objective of our visit is to come and see what you have on ground that will match the proposal for the transition from the Federal Medical Centre to a Teaching Hospital.
She explained that there were criteria for approval and final recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari, would come from the office of the Hon Minister of State for Health, who is the supervising minister.
She noted the team are the technical officers, the foot soldiers in the ministry, who would ensure that due diligence was carried out.
”I am glad to be part of history that FMC Lokoja is being transformed to a federal teaching hospital. I am quite impressed with the profile of the hospital but there are still lot of work to do.
”So, please don’t rest on your oars because we want to go back to Abuja to beat our chest that yes, FMC Lokoja deserves to be called a Teaching Hospital,” she said.
She congratulated the FMC management for being able to overcome the challenges encountered when the hospital was locked down for over six months.
Earlier, the Medical Director, FMC Lokoja, Dr Olatunde Alabi, made a presentation on the history, structure, outlook and the current state of the hospital in terms of infrastructure, management, staff strength, successes and challenges.
In his presentation, he said that the FMC Lokoja was established in 1999, and have been serving as the major tertiary federal health institution in Kogi State and neigbouring states.
He disclosed that inadequate manpower remained one of the main challenges facing the hospital due to brain drain, retirement, among others.
The medical director, subsequently conducted the team round the hospital facilities, assured that the board of management and the entire staff of the hospital are fully prepared
Alabi emphasised that the purpose of the visit was to come and examine their readiness for the transformation of FMC Lokoja to university teaching hospital.
According to him, the implication is that we want to start training medical students and other allied professions that are related to medicine.
He explained that the clinical aspect was being handled principally by Medical and Dental Council and Federal Ministry of Health.
He added that the National University Commission (NUC) have also come for inspection, stressing that the board of management and the entire staff of the hospital were fully ready.
”We are fully ready the training of medical personnel is not new to FMC Lokoja, and we have also been training resident doctors for years,” he said.