Five general hospitals in the state’s five divisions have been requested to be upgraded to tertiary medical facilities by the Lagos House of Assembly.
Following discussion of a report provided by Olusola Sokunle, the chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, the legislators passed the resolution on Monday, BusinessDay reported.
The five general hospitals in concern were those in Badagry, Alimosho, Ikorodu, Epe, and Lagos Island, according to Sokunle.
According to him, the team went to each general hospital in the state to identify which ones may be upgraded to tertiary level care.
In order to relieve the strain on the resources of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Sokunle claimed that the general hospitals needed to be upgraded.
The congressman proposed that the state government redesign primary health centers and create a department of renal and neurology in the impacted hospitals.
In his words: “Local governments should intensify awareness and sensitisation on the usefulness of the centres in their respective councils.
“The land mass, high tech equipment, and quality of the medical personnel are part of the considerations before the five general hospitals were chosen.”
Wahab Jimoh (Apapa II), who contributed to the discussion in the report, stated that it was necessary to take other general hospitals within the Lagos Island division into consideration.
Jimoh recommended choosing the impacted general hospitals outside of Lagos Island, where there are plenty of general hospitals.
Another member, Mojisola Meirada (Apapa I), suggested that each of the renovated general hospitals should have a trauma and bone section in addition to the renal department.
Mairada, the Chief Whip, insisted that it will also ease the strain on the trauma center at Gbagada Hospital.
Moshood Oshun (Lagos Mainland II) also spoke and argued in favor of expanding general hospitals throughout the state.
According to Oshun, more facilities should be built to improve residents’ accessibility rather than upgrading the five hospitals into tertiary healthcare facilities.
He held the view that money available for hospital upgrades may be used to building new general hospitals under the jurisdiction of local governments.
However, the speaker of the assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, maintained that tertiary status for the five general hospitals will preserve their reputation.
Obasa emphasized the importance of forging partnerships between general hospitals and gathering information to decide whether or not a renal specialist hospital should be built to handle renal disorders in the state.
