Janet Ogundepo The Lagos State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Saheed Babajide has faulted the recent takeover and upgrade of the General Hospital, Epe, to a Federal Medical Centre by the Federal Government. He asserted that the upgrade was unfavourable to the residents of the area, noting that the move would deprived them of the healthcare benefits enjoyed by othe residents in the state. Speaking in an exclusive interview with PUNCH Healthwise on the takeover, the physician said it was wrong for the Lagos State Government to handover 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.
” Punch Healthwise reported that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the transfer of Epe General Hospital to the Federal Government last Thursday. Subsequently, the facility was renamed Federal Medical Centre, Epe. This brings the number of FMCs in the state to two.
The Federal Government had in August announced the establishment of three additional FMCs to alleviate the strain on healthcare facilities .