The House of Representatives Committee on Health has announced the likely upgrade of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, to a teaching hospital.

The committee chairman, Amos Magaji, disclosed this while on an inspection tour of the facilities at the hospital on Sunday.

The committee met with the hospital’s management, 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.

“We will look at how Federal Medical Centre, Owo, can be upgraded to a teaching hospital and ensure that it is done through due process, which cannot be done in one day.

“We will look at the law, and we will also look at the policies,” Mr Magaji said.

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.”

Mr Magaji also said the issues of employment and replacement of workers in the health sector must be taken as an emergency.

“When we get to Abuja, we will see how we can tackle all the issues 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,” Mr Magaji noted.

On his part, the hospital’s chief medical director, Liasu Adeagbo, said the visit would assist the committee in providing solutions to the hospital’s challenges.

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

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

“Medications are very expensive now that many people cannot pay, and the government has said that nobody should die because they don’t have money,” he stated. 

(NAN)