Tinubu orders establishment of teaching hospital in Ondo

President Bola Tinubu has directed that necessary modalities be put in place for the establishment of a teaching hospital in Akure, Ondo State, to aid the training of medical students at the Federal University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Akure (FUTA).

In activating the president’s directive, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammad Pate, dispatched a team to the state to assess the location of the teaching hospital to include the proposed medical facility in the 2025 budget.

Director of Hospital Services at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Jimoh Olawole Salaudeen, who led the presidential team to Akure, inspected the permanent site of FUTA, where the hospital would be located.

Dr. Salaudeen also inspected the Akure Annex of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), which would serve as a temporary site for the teaching hospital.

Speaking to journalists after the inspection, Dr. Salaudeen expressed satisfaction that the teaching hospital would soon become operational due to available facilities on the ground.

He said, “There was a directive from Mr. President that there shall be in Akure a federal teaching hospital. This mandate was given to the Minister of Health, Mohammad Ali Pate, that we should move in quickly to ensure the institutions are established.

“We are here to interact with the state government to know where they want to give us for the commencement of the teaching hospital. We learnt that FUTA has commenced training of medical students, and they are already in 300 level.

“There is a place the state government is ready to give us as a temporary site for the commencement of the teaching hospital. We are happy that a space has been provided for the permanent site. I am happy that there is lots of structure at the site. We have seen an auditorium, a health centre, and a block of classrooms.

“We visualised the place for the temporary site in terms of equipment so that we will be able to identify the gaps for a model federal tertiary hospital. We will start filling in the gaps to aid the training of medical students.

“From what we have seen and the kind of welcome from the community, we think the commencement of clinical training is hopeful. The learning of the students will be easier. When we have the community’s support, there will be peace.”

Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, said the state government was ready to provide all necessary support to actualize the president’s directive.

“Before the permanent site can get to a level for academic activities, they will have to start from somewhere. We have drafted an MOU and done a lot of things. We want the medical students to finish on record time.”

Vice Chancellor of FUTA, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, said the institution has been concerned about where its medical students would conduct their clinical studies.

She said, “I am extremely happy that we have a government that is responsive to the yearnings of the people. We have a medical school, and we have been thinking, How do we get a teaching hospital? Surprisingly, the federal government is coming to our rescue.

“We have a department for biomedical engineering. The idea is to have engineers produce equipment; we are going to be able to contribute to what is needed in the school of health sciences.”