The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, has hailed the hospital’s management for making it a centre of excellence.
He praised Governor Ayodele Fayose for supporting the hospital since he assumed office.
Ogundipe, who spoke at the kick-off of the Histopathology Archives of the Department of Anatomy Pathology, noted that the governor’s support had led to the approval to build an ultra-modern mortuary through public private partnership (PPP).
The CMD said the various success stories recorded by the Anatomy Pathology Department were in line with the vision of the teaching hospital’s management to make it the preferred referral centre for qualitative, affordable health care, ethical medical research and training.
He noted that Anatomy Pathology and Surgery departments were like Siamese twins, which cannot function without each other.
Ogundipe said the department occupied a pride of place among similar departments of Histopathology of teaching hospitals in the country because it boast modern equipment which were not available in some first generation teaching hospitals.
The Head of Anatomy Pathology Department Dr. Abidemi Omonisi said setting up an archive in the department was imperative because it would be useful for keeping records of histopathology reports.
The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe has called on Ekiti sons and daughters to join efforts with the management of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in Ado-Ekiti to make it a world-class hospital.
Oba Adejugbe spoke when the management of the teaching hospital paid him a visit in his palace. He noted that government alone cannot make the hospital great.
He also advised medical practitioners to encourage their colleagues who hail from Ekiti State but practising in other hospitals both at home and abroad to come home and contribute their quota to the development of the hospital and, by extension, to the state in general.
The Ewi commended the leadership of EKSUTH for having young and vibrant medical practitioners in the hospital.
Speaking earlier, the Chief Medical Director of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe said the visit to the monarch was to intimate him of the activities of the hospital.
He explained that five Accreditation Teams have visited the hospital for accreditation.
Ekiti State residents have access to good healthcare delivery following a gradual but thorough transformation of the major hospital in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital from a state hospital that had just one consultant to a teaching hospital that now boasts of many consultants in major fields of medicine. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.
Health care delivery is one of the major components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and one of the most important indices of standard of living of any populace.
The health of the population should be of paramount concern to any responsible government because it has far-reaching effects on the productivity of its citizens.
That is why government at all levels deploy enormous resources to the health sector in a bid to provide and maintain health facilities, provision of drugs, training and re-training of health personnel, among others.
From the days of Western Region, Western State, old Ondo State to the present-day Ekiti State, healthcare delivery had occupied a front burner in government’s commitment to the welfare of the citizens.
This explains why the former Military Governor of Old Western State, Maj- General (then Brigadier) Robert Adeyinka Adebayo built and inaugurated a district hospital for Ekiti on March 9, 1971 to cater for the increasing population of Ado-Ekiti then.
At the time it was inaugurated, the hospital had very limited facilities and manpower and was patronised by people from all parts of Ekiti as many towns and villages then lacked such a facility they could make use of in times of emergency.
But the mustard seed planted by Adebayo was nurtured by successive administrations and it has grown to a big tertiary hospital which competes favourably with its counterparts in the West African sub-region.
As it widens its scope, operations and the number of patients patronising it, it was transformed into general hospital in the Second Republic, specialist hospital and now teaching hospital.
Attaining such status resulted from long, winding process of its evaluation and readiness to provide sound training for future medical personnel and availability of the required facilities, among others.
As the population of the city and, by extension, the state widen and the quest for medical education increases, the administration of former Governor Segun Oni saw the need to upgrade the hospital to a teaching hospital to meet these needs; hence the establishment of the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Ado-Ekiti.
The Kayode Fayemi administration, which built on the foundation laid by the Oni regime by providing more facilities for it, even as it renamed the institution Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) following the consolidation of the three hitherto state-owned universities into one.
The current Ayo Fayose administration is also spreading the tentacles of the operations of EKSUTH to the grassroots with the recent approval of the takeover of the Joan Taiwo Daramola Hospital, Ire-Ekiti by EKSUTH management to make quality healthcare delivery available to many communities in Oye and Irepodun/Ifelodun local government areas.
With the upgrade and transformation of the hospital from a “glorified state specialist hospital to a teaching hospital”, the inconveniences experienced by patients on referrals to tertiary health institutions in nearby states have been consigned to history.
Critical surgical operations that were not hitherto performed in the state can now be enjoyed by needy patients at EKSUTH as a result of the commitment of the state government and members of staff of the hospital.
EKSUTH took off officially on April 1, 2008 with a mission “to preserve and improve the dignity of human life through the provision of a comprehensive programme of quality patient care, academic excellence and innovative research environment that is respectful of others.”
This is to make the teaching hospital operate uniquely in a friendly environment without compromising quality. The institution has been forging ahead in the actualisation of its mission despite the enormous challenges.
Up till March 31, 2008, the hospital had only one Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) consultant in the person of Dr. O. Olajuyin and other supporting staff.
The change in status on April 1, 2008 was effected with the aim of serving as the clinical laboratory for the College Medicine of the Ekiti State University Ado-Ekiti.
The pioneer Acting Medical Director of EKSUTH, Dr. Patrick Adegun, a consultant Urologist assumed office in April, 2008. He became a substantive Chief Medical Director in July, 2010.
The first management board of the hospital was inaugurated in March, 2010 by the Oni-led government. The board was chaired by an emeritus Prof., Adelola Adeloye; a Neurologist.
In order to achieve its primary objectives in service, research and training, an administrative structure comparable to other teaching hospitals was put in place to superintend its day-to-day activities.
In January, 2010, the Ophthalmology Department of the hospital was inaugurated. The centre was successfully manned by Cuban eye specialists for 15 months as their Nigerian counterparts understudied them.
On June 15, 2010, the Ophthalmology Department made surgical history by successfully repairing retinal detachment in a young female undergraduate of the Ekiti State University, Ado–Ekiti.
The Ophthalmology Department has been acclaimed to be one of the best in Africa by the West African College of Surgeons (WACS).
With its short period of existence, EKSUTH has modified, renovated and constructed modern buildings on the premises of the old specialist hospital which it inherited.
A new expansive accident and emergency building was built, equipped and inaugurated. This facility is currently providing an ideal setting for the operation of emergencies comparable to any world-class accident and emergency complex in the world.
The complex is a mini-hospital as it has 50-bed wards–male and female, medicine and surgery, a triage room, a gynaecological ward, a state-of-the-art theatre, a large reception area, a pharmacy outlet, a radiology room, a plasta–room, a conference room for doctors and paramedics.
The maternity complex has undergone lots of modification and repairs. The complex boasts twin-theatre suites for emergency obstetrics care, elective obstetrics and gynaecology cases.
It also has a modern ultra-sound machine, resurcituire and cardiogram. Water is available 24 hours as the complex has the management sunk some boreholes for it.
Also, new modern mobile beds were procured to replace the old rusty ones inherited from the specialist hospital at the natal, post-natal and isolation wards of the maternity.
The Mental Health Department (psychiatry) has been relocated to a newly completed building with the needed infrastructure. A modern laboratory was built and equipped with the internally-generated revenue of the hospital. The laboratory complex houses the haematology, histopathology, chemical pathology, anatomic pathology departments of the hospital.
Currently, the hospital boasts consultants in all areas of specialisation and eight Professors.
Over and above this, the management prioritises staff welfare.
Also, a capacity building committee has been put in place to enable members of staff to attend trainings, workshops and seminars periodically to update their knowledge in various areas of endeavours.
The Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Ophthalmology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology departments have been accredited by the West African College of Physician and West African College of Surgeons respectively; while other clinical departments have applied to these colleges for accreditation.
The automation of the departments and units of the hospital has begun at the Directorate of Accounts; with a view to extending same to other sections.
These departments would be linked to Medical Record Department, General Outpatient Department, Specialist Clinics, Accident and Emergency, Pharmacy, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Main Theatre and the Data Bank of the Ministry of Health.
The automation aims at achieving paperless consultation, prescription and record retrieval.
As part of the management’s development effort, the TUR equipment was procured to kick-start the endoscopy unit while business districts were created at the general out-patient and medical wards.
There are four suites complete with anaesthetic machines, bed monitors, suctioning machines as well as recovery room at the main theatre.
A new Mammogram Centre, named after the late Funmi Adunni Olayinka, a former Deputy Governor of the State who died of cancer in April, 2013 was put in place.
The centre is equipped with state-of-the-art GE mammogram machine, scanning machine, cosposcopy and endoscopy machines, echo-cardiogram machine as well as gymnasium equipment.
On July 29, last year, Dr Adigun completed his tenure and was succeeded by Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon and chairman, Medical Advisory Committee.
•Dr. Ogundipe
Upon assumption in office as the CMD, Dr. Ogundipe set out to reposition the hospital as the ‘preferred health care centre of excellence of world standard”.
The hospital’s vision changed to “to be the “preferred referred centre for quality, affordable tertiary health care, ethical medical research and training in Nigeria”.
The mission statement changed to “to provide quality, affordable tertiary health care topical medical research and ethical training services for our stakeholders with innovative technological processes and personnel integrity”.
The CMD identified three essential components of a teaching hospital which are training, services and research. He worked towards increasing the internally-generated revenue of the hospital by blocking all financial drain pipes.
Dr. Ogundipe made accountability, prudence and transparency his watchword. This has tremendously increased the internally-generated revenue of the hospital while the monthly subvention has also increased.
Achievements recorded by EKSUTH management under Dr. Ogundipe’s leadership include restoration of the accreditation status of the School of Midwifery. The West African College of Surgeons (WACS) granted full accreditation to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in EKSUTH.
Renovation of the burnt administrative block of the School of Nursing, construction of Works Department, construction of the General Outpatient Department Annex building, construction of EKSUTH library and renovation of School of Midwifery hostels, construction of Patients’ Pavilion, construction and staffing of the new laboratory reception, setting up of a two-bedded intensive care unit (ICU) at the main theatre, intra-hospital communication system and opening of a well-furnished patients’ waiting area at the maternity complex are some of the achievements of the hospital under Ogundipe.
The rest are renovation and re-organisation of the Specialist Outpatients’ Clinic, renovation of the Radiology Department and renovation of the old Accident and Emergency Department to accommodate the Health Information Management Department.
The Directorate of Administration was restructured for better performance while the management has succeeded in maintaining industrial harmony with various unions in the hospital.
Some of the patients, their associates and family members praised the turnaround of EKSUTH which they noted has rubbed off positively on people seeking quality health care services.
To Mrs. Celina Olojede, services at EKSUTH have improved as against what obtained in the past, urging the authorities not to rest on their oars.
“We commend the successive administrations for their contributions in making this hospital what it is today,” she said.
Another visitor, Ademola Onifade, commended the staff of EKSUTH for their commitment to service delivery, even as he advised that they should not rest on their oars if the health institution would sustain the momentum.
“The members of staff are trying their best possible, especially with the employment of more doctors in various fields. My area of concern is frequent visits to the cash centres to make payments for everything purchased in the hospital.
“I advocate that the points of payment be decentralised so as to reduce the stress we go through in making one payment or the other. Though the step was taken to ensure accountability, our convenience should also be taken into consideration”, Onifade pleaded.
Speaking with Southwest Report, Dele Osatimehin said he was impressed with the infrastructural development at EKSUTH; especially the new Accident and Emergency Ward.
He said: “I know how Accident and Emergency Ward here used to be but this ultra-modern one built has helped in reducing loss of lives.
“This is how an Accident and Emergency Ward should be. The former one was an eyesore. It shows that Ekiti State is no longer a backwater state and our people deserve the best.”
Commenting on the EKSUTH Ophthalmology Centre, an eye patient, Pa James Ajogbeje, explained that he didn’t know that such a facility existed at the hospital until a relation of his told him to come and be treated of cataract.
“I am a native of Ikere and I have been having problems with my eyes for about 12 years now. It was my nephew who told me that we now have an eye centre in this hospital where my problems can be attended to.
“I came and they conducted tests on me and I was booked for eye surgery. Initially, I was afraid but I was encouraged by the testimonies of others who had been treated,” he said.
Despite the new gains recorded with its upgrade to a teaching hospital, the management is not resting on its oars as it has envisioned various development plans for the future; such as construction of a three-floor building to serve as office and wards for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and a building to accommodate the staff working with the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria (IHVN).
Also on the cards is an 80-room office complex for consultants and the establishment of a medical oxygen plant trough public-private partnership (PPP) to serve the hospital and others contiguous to it.
There is also need to renovate, expand and equip the Dental Department of the hospital.
But as lofty and laudable the plans of the management are, the major challenge is funding, especially as states and its institutions are grappling with acute financial constraints.
An inside source said: “As good as the management’s plans are, the money to execute them is not readily available. The monthly subvention from the state government, though increased recently, is only enough to pay workers’ salaries.”
Despite the challenges, EKSUTH has upped the ante and taken health care delivery, medical research and training of future manpower to another level and the people of Ekiti State are yearning for more.
The Chief Medical Director of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Dr. Olubunmi Ogundipe, has said he has surmounted the challenges he met on ground when he assumed leadership.
Speaking at a forum, he said besides clearing the backlog of promotions, conversions and payment of salaries, a conducive environment had been created for staff to work effectively.
Ogundipe said EKSUTH was collaborating with other teaching hospitals to sponsor doctors for trainings.
The CMD added that EKSUTH is providing services for general hospitals and comprehensive health centres in the state.
The hospital has performed some medical feats in surgery, unique procedure and robust dialysis.
On the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ogundipe noted that the scheme should not be for Federal Government workers alone. The Ministry of Health, EKSUTH and Hospital Management Board are working out ways by which state workers will have access to similar scheme.
The West African College of Surgeons (WACS) has granted full accreditation to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).
The full accreditation, which is expected to run for five years in the first instance, is to train a maximum of 20 resident-doctors up to Part II (Fellowship Level).
This was contained in the report of an accreditation visit to the Department on February 18.
According to a letter addressed to the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, the hospital is expected to apply for re-accreditation six months before the expiry date on February 28, 2020.
The senior residents are to spend at least three months in another teaching hospital with full accreditation before applying for the Part 2 examination.
WACS, however, recommended the need for more consulting rooms at the antenatal and gynaecological clinics and increase in the bed capacity in the gynaecological ward.
The Surgeons’ College also recommended an improvement on the number of major gynaecological surgeries and improvement on record keeping, especially at the ultrasound room and MVA theatre.
The visiting team equally recommended the need to commence laparoscopic and hysteroscopic services and to separate the seminar room from the waiting room of the family planning clinic.
Doctors in Ekiti State began yesterday a three-day warning strike.
Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Chairman, Ekiti chapter, Obitade Obimakinde told reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, that the strike was to protest against the “imposition of outrageous taxes” on members in both public and private practice by the state government.
Obimakinde berated the state government for resorting to litigation to stop the strike, which he described as “legitimate”.
He said: “The strike commenced at 12 midnight yesterday and involved all cadres of hospitals, ranging from state and federal primary health institutions to tertiary health institutions, including the
Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) and the Federal Medical
The remains of the late acting governor of Ekiti State, Hon. Friday Aderemi, were yesterday interred in Ayetoro-Ekiti in Ido Osi Local Government Area of the state after a well-attended church service at the St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in the town.
Late Aderemi, who was also a former Speaker of the Ekiti State Assembly from 2003 to 2007, died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) on January 7, 2014 at the age of 74.
Dignitaries at the event included the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; his deputy, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin; the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, to mention but a few.
Speaking at the church service, Governor Fayemi said “the historic feat” of the deceased could not have been achieved by those he described as “the lily livered”, adding that the dogged insistence of the dark forces at the time could sway even the most well intentioned people.
According to him, Ekiti witnessed one of its darkest points in history during Aderemi’s tenure both as the Speaker of the State Asembly and later as Acting Governor, but added that the “character of the texture and substance displayed by him and other co-missioners served to redeem the state.
“Sir Aderemi belonged to the early generation of Ekiti political elite who devoted their days to the pursuit of Ekiti interest. He rose to prominence in the history of our dear state as providence thrust on him the onerous role as one of those who frontally led the resistance against the draconian leadership of the then governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose.
“Though he was at the time a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his progressive inclinations as a true son of Ekiti propelled him to work with other progressive elements to cause the impeachment of Mr. Ayo Fayose,” the governor recalled.
Earlier in his sermon, the Bishop of Ekiti-Oke Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Isaac Olubowale, said the deceased used his time and resources to serve God and the people.
He urged politicians to emulate the life of sacrifice of the late Aderemi, saying that this is the only way for them to be remembered.
Aderemi’s journey to eternity started on Friday with a lying-in-state ceremony held at the new Governor’s Office, an event attended by Governor Fayemi and other top state functionaries.
The procession later moved to the State Assembly Complex where a session, addressed by the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, was also held for the deceased.
A doctor, Adekunle Abayomi, has been kidnapped in Ekiti State.
He was abducted on Monday morning between Ado-Ekiti and Ido-Ekiti.
Sources said Abayomi recently relocated to Ekiti from Yola, Adamawa State, because of the insurgency in the North.
Abayomi’s colleague, who pleaded for anonymity, said the kidnappers were demanding N1 million ransom.
He said doctors were trying to raise the money.
Spokesman of the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) Mr. Muyiwa Olomu said: “The hospital management is disturbed by the incident.”
It was learnt that the Honda Civic car Abayomi was driving before he was kidnapped had been found.
Police spokesman Victor Babayemi confirmed the incident. He said efforts were on to rescue the doctor.
Kidnap cases are on the increase in the state. Also on Monday, a businessman, Chief Femi Fadeyi, was abducted in Ido-Ekiti.
About two weeks ago, four employees of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), were kidnapped between Oye-Ekiti and Ifaki-Ekiti. One of the victims reportedly died in captivity.
