The Rotary Club, Ikeja GRA, has generously donated a 30-bed accommodation to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, to provide a comfortable space for families of patients to stay while their loved ones receive medical care.
This thoughtful gesture makes LASUTH the first public hospital in Lagos State to offer on-site accommodation for patients’ relatives, a milestone acknowledged by the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo.
The Rotary Club recognized the struggles faced by families who had to sleep on floors or in their cars due to the lack of affordable accommodations near the hospital. By providing this facility, they aim to alleviate the emotional toll and stress that comes with hospital visits.
Physicians emphasize the importance of having family members close by, and this accommodation ensures easy access to patients and medical staff, eliminating the need for long commutes and reducing stress.
At the unveiling of the facility, Rotary Club President Adeyemi Adesina expressed the club’s desire to provide a decent space for families to rest, bathe, and change clothes while their loved ones receive care at the hospital.
Adesina highlighted, “It is a caregiver quarter which is supposed to service those people who come to care for their loved ones within the hospital.
“We saw it as a need for people sleeping on the floor, corridor, and cars because they have a patient within the hospital. We considered it a need that should be met one way or the other.
“We are providing a 36-bed apartment but we know that the need is more than that because due to our culture, we don’t normally abandon our loved one in the hospital. So, we have been able to do that.”
He stated that the facility was provided for anyone having a patient at LASUTH irrespective of social and financial status, adding that the idea of Rotary is giving to society, helping the needy, and making a positive impact on the environment.
“We just want people to have a decent place to take a nap, sleep, take a shower, and have a convenient place to eat. We don’t want you to be stressed taking care of your loved ones. I think this facility will be able to provide those services.
“You don’t need to go too far before you can have a good bath or use the restroom. We spent over N65 million on the facility and we have provided beds. We are still going to be providing fans and air conditioners to ensure that the facility is well furnished and very convenient for people.”
Rotary International District 9110’s District Governor, Ifeyinwa Ejezie, overseeing Lagos and Ogun states’ Rotary Clubs, stated that this facility will usher in a new era where caregivers no longer have to endure the hardship of sleeping in corridors or cars while caring for their loved ones in the hospital.
She emphasized that this accommodation represents a meaningful way for Rotary to give back to the community and make a positive impact in the world.
“Caregivers will be using the facility and caring for their loved ones in the hospital and I think LASUTH is the first to have such a facility in Lagos”, Ejezie said.
Commending Rotary for the donation, LASUTH CMD, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, mentioned, “We are excited to have such a facility. You know that in the beginning, we were sceptical; we didn’t know that they would be able to fulfil their promise. But they made us very proud.
“They have been able to fulfil their promise of erecting this structure in a record time. So we are very happy.
“We are going to boast that we are the only public hospital in the state that has provided a structure where relatives of patients can lay their heads at night instead of just sleeping all over the compound and inside their cars and so on.
“We are still relation-dependent health facilities. However, this is not the case in developed countries. The reality is that relatives stay with their patients and they have to sleep.”
, Ikeja, to provide a comfortable space for families of patients to stay while their loved ones receive medical care.){kind=link}