Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has inaugurated the Lagos University Teaching Hospital’s ultramodern outpatient building at Idi-Araba, Lagos.
In his welcome speech, the Speaker said whatever Nigeria needs to do, must be dome well.
“Most of my agenda is on education and health and we have to focus on these areas,” he said.
He stated that Nigeria has qualified health personnel that can compete favourably with their counterparts around the world: “This is an important project that will help people in Lagos and bring succour to people living within that environment and other places in the state.”
He enjoined the contractors to do a good job and they should work round the clock in order to complete the building before the stipulated 12 to 18 months period.
Prof. Chris Bode, chief medical director (CMD), LUTH, said, “Today’s ceremony is another testimony to the assertion that the Speaker is dedicated to the welfare of Nigerians and he has always been a friend of this great institution.
“Our Accidents & Emergency Building across the road was commissioned over 45 years ago with only the ground floor used for A&E and operation theatre while the remaining three floors serve as outpatient clinics where the clinics operate. While our services have flourished and grown in the past several years, we could not expand our emergency services to accommodate the burgeoning number of clients. Rooms to run OPD clinics also became fewer with long patient waiting time and fewer clinic opportunities.”
The CMD added that, “We then decided to expand the services of LUTH to this site, whereby all our outpatients services could be moved to a separate building across the road into an ultra-modeen facility to improve patients and staff experience.”
He stated that the Speaker championed the project through an intervention fund from the National Assembly and LUTH is set to “raise the bar through the provision of five buildings each comprising four floors to house 256 consultation rooms, among others.”
16 Waiting Areas, 16 Nursing Stations, 8 Meeting Rooms, 8 Patients’ Lifts and many other facilities including a 120-car park, Cafeterias, shops among others.