The Lagos State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Saheed Babajide, criticized the Federal Government’s takeover and upgrade of Epe General Hospital to a Federal Medical Centre.
He argued that the upgrade would deprive local residents of healthcare benefits enjoyed by others in the state.
Dr. Babajide noted it was wrong for the Lagos State Government to hand over a general hospital serving vulnerable Epe residents to the Federal Government.
Babajide said, “The transformation of General Hospital, Epe to FMC is not good for the people of Epe because they will be deprived of the state’s health system for life. In the sense that they will only have a federal institution, which will be controlled from Abuja. Therefore, they will not have any direct benefits from it, which is different from what they used to have with Epe General Hospital.”
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding last Thursday, transferring Epe General Hospital to the Federal Government. The facility has been renamed Federal Medical Centre, Epe, bringing the number of FMCs in the state to two.
The Federal Government announced the establishment of three additional FMCs in August to alleviate strain on healthcare facilities and achieve Universal Health Coverage. Besides Epe, FMCs were also established in Misau, Bauchi State, and Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, increasing the national total to 26.
The FMCs in Epe and Misau will each have a nursing school. Before the handover, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, presented appointment letters to the acting medical directors of FMC Epe and Misau.
According to Babajide, although residents will still benefit from Primary Health Care Centres, access to free medical care for children and the elderly at the tertiary hospital level has been discontinued.
“Now, when you have the FMC, those benefits will not be there. They can no longer get free health for children and the elderly because that is not a policy of FG.
“Also, Epe General Hospital should be developed and not transformed into an FMC because they have been improving it by building speciality clinics. Why do they have to take that? They should be thinking of increasing speciality clinics in that hospital and then the government can now have a separate and new FMC,” the Lagos NMA chair noted.
Dr. Babajide questioned the decision to transfer Epe General Hospital workers to the Federal Medical Centre, wondering how their salaries from October to December would be paid since it wasn’t budgeted for in 2024.
He asked, “What’s the benefit? How will they recruit doctors and nurses? Epe is a Lagos suburb, unlike FMC Ebutte-Meta, which is centrally located and easier to staff. Who will move to Epe?”
Babajide noted that once the Dangote refinery begins mass-producing and distributing fuel, living and working in the area will become unappealing.
“The government should think ahead and be proactive. I believe it’s a wrong decision for Lagos State, depriving Epe division of vital resources. They should focus on establishing a complementary general hospital.”
He also criticized establishing more medical schools, citing the exodus of teacher-doctors from Nigeria. “Creating more medical schools will only encourage Nigerian-trained doctors to emigrate, making the government a ‘doctor exporter.'”
“The government will lose all the subsidised medical school fees they have spent on people to become doctors. Their family have also used their sweat and money, to train somebody as a doctor and nurse and at the end of the day, the family and the government will lose.
“What they should be thinking about is how to resolve this issue of Japa and look at how we’re going to improve the health sector,” Babajide highlighted.
