The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) says more than 150 nurses resigned their appointments with the tertiary hospital within the last three years.

The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, said this during a news conference on Tuesday in Lagos.

Mr Fabamwo said the situation arose as a result of health workers relocating abroad to practice, noting that the exit replacement strategy of the government had, however, ensured that operations weren’t disrupted at the hospital.

He added that in recent times, applications for positions of nurses and resident doctors had reduced in the tertiary hospital.

To address the challenge, Mr Fabamwo said the hospital now recruits double qualified nurses and also engaged some retired but not tired nurses on contract basis to bridge the gaps.

On the issue of bed space management, Mr Fabamwo said that the hospital was using a team of nurses called ‘monitoring crew’ to ensure speedy transfers of stable patients from emergency units to wards.

This, according to him, had created spaces for incoming patients.

Mr Fabamwo disclosed that the ongoing construction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) building with a 120-bed capacity in the hospital was at 90 per cent completion level.

He said that the SDG building would alleviate the issue of bed space constriction, enhance critical care services in the hospital and assist to reduce medical tourism in the state and country.

The CMD added that the hospital was also working on the expansion of its Surgical Emergency Unit, Psychiatric Unit and Resident Doctors quarters.

According to him, the policies and infrastructure development was to improve healthcare services and patient’s experience at the hospital.

On the issue of Solomon Oriere, who allegedly sold COVID-19 vaccination cards without inoculation, Mr Fabamwo said the impostor wasn’t a staff of LASUTH.

The CMD said Mr Oriere had been arrested and presently in police custody, adding that the public would be kept abreast of the findings of the investigation.

The federal government said between July and August 2022, 422 persons were caught trying to use fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to travel.

It said that the 422 persons were discovered by the Port Health Services (PHS) and were apprehended while trying to pass through the clearance process at the airport.

(NAN)