Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, 10th September, 2020 commissioned the remodelled and renamed Saki Specialist Hospital.
The governor, at the event attended by top government functionaries and the traditional institution led by the Okere of Saki, Oba Khalid Olabisi, said: “It gives me great pleasure to be back here in Saki, less than three months after our last visit to commission this Infectious Disease Centre. This facility will now be named Saki Specialist Hospital. We have invested close to half a billion Naira on this facility. And for equipment alone, we have invested over N250,000,000.”
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, noted that the governor stated these while commissioning the Infectious Disease Centre, Saki, an uncompleted project inherited from the last administration but now remodelled and upgraded to a 100-bed Specialist Hospital in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.
Governor Makinde stated that with the ongoing revolution in the state’s health sector, his administration will deliver 351 model primary Health Care Centres at one per electoral Ward in the state before the end of its tenure in 2023.
He stated that the current administration will go into the annals of Oyo State history as the one that turned existing and moribund health infrastructure into state-of-the-art medical facilities, saying “if Oyo State can start with attracting medical tourism from other states within Nigeria, it means that economic activities will significantly improve.”
He further added that as the government continues to upgrade health facilities in the state in line with its commitment to quality health care delivery, it will also continue to equip and maintain them and also ensure that they have the best personnel.
The Governor also recalled how the government had rebuffed efforts to set up isolation centres in stadiums, choosing to upgrade existing medical facilities, a decision which he said has paid off greatly as shown through the success stories with the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo and now the Saki Specialist Hospital.
He said: “When we started work on the conversion and upgrade of this facility, it was initially intended to be an Observatory, Isolation and Treatment Centre to support our efforts towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. But we also had more long-term goals to ensure that it fits into our overall plan to improve the healthcare system in the nooks and crannies of Oyo State.
“When we took over last year, our healthcare system was not in the best shape. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make the tough decisions to leverage the situation and accelerate our plans to address the dilapidating healthcare infrastructure in Oyo State.
“We were pressured to create temporary isolation centres in stadiums and other open spaces, but we remained steadfast in our resolve to upgrade existing facilities, because we saw an opportunity even in that state of despair. And this is the result of that decision.
“This infectious disease centre, as well as the one in Olodo, are direct results of our well-thought-out approach. When the history of Oyo State is written, it will be on the record that this administration turned the existing infrastructure into state-of-the-art medical facilities.”
He added: “Well, we have a lot of amenities to be proud of. I’ll just mention a few. Here, we have a 10-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with two Gradian State-of-the-Art mechanical ventilators with humidifiers, various accessories and three patient monitors. We also have two CPAP machines with face shields and re-breather bags to deliver maximum oxygen requirements.
“Additionally, we have a 12-bed High Dependency Unit (HDU) with piped oxygen. Other facilities we have here at the Saki Infectious Disease Centre are: Twelve-bed Female General Ward, twenty-bed Male General Ward, an operating theatre and a recovery room.
“We also have some high-end laboratories and equipment that will aid research into infectious diseases. The medical community will be excited to know that we have Cobas c 111 [co-bas see triple one] analyser here now. Also, we have a Parameter Haematology [he-ma-to-lo-gy] Analyser, Clotting Profile Analyser, autoclave [or-to-clayv] and biosafety cabinet.
“So, there is a 12-bed Observatory Unit, 10-bed Isolation Unit, and seven-bed Resuscitation Unit. And to power this centre we have two diesel generators (400 KVA and 40KVA) and fourteen, 110 watts solar-street-lights for perimeter lighting. We also have a pharmacy inside, CCTV control room, mobile x-ray unit and many more.”
