NAN-HG-14
Partnership
By Vivian Ihechu
Lagos, Nov. 23, 2016 (NAN) The management of Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta, Lagos, on Wednesday called for increased funding and the involvement of private sector in the development of its permanent site.
The acting Managing Director of the institution, Dr Olubukola Aseru, made the call during a verification visit by a team from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Abuja, to the institution in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the verification team had visited selected health institutions in Lagos to inspect projects, assess challenges as identified by the institutions and make recommendations.
Aseru said, “The Lagos State Government was magnanimous to give us four hectares of land along the Badagry-Lagos Expressway axis, a some short distance off the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Badagry.
“Out of our capital budget, we have tried to put in a primary healthcare facility that it is staffed by nurses and doctors.
“We have walk-in patients who come, and after seeing them, go back to their communities.
“However, there is a crying need for funding; we are actively looking to collaborate with the private sector to fully develop the place.
“In our layout, we have places that are purely designed for the private sector participation.
“For us to start off, we need part of our capital budget to start the diagnostic and probably, the therapeutic area, while the ancillary areas can be taken up by private sector participation.’’
He said that due to the location of the site, when fully developed, the centre could also be serving the health needs of some countries in the West African Coast.
Aseru said that the current site would still be functional.
“Because, we are in the middle of the metropolis, though, the facility is small, we have thousands of clients that come here to access healthcare daily,’’ he said. (NAN)
VIV/GOK
Edited by Olagoke Olatoye