Lagos medical university to increase production of professionals

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, has said that establishing the Lagos University of Medicine and Health Sciences will increase the production of medical professionals.

At the Lagos Medipark groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, Mr Abayomi said to counteract the brain drain, “We’re creating the brain gain by making Lagos attractive, and we’re producing a lot more medical professionals over the next three years.”

“We have just passed the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in the cabinet and are awaiting approval in the House of Assembly.”

He said the university would facilitate the production of medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacies, and dentists, who are qualified to work with the Medipark project.

“We have to take a proactive step that in five to six years, we’re going to be producing 2,500 medical professionals that are going to be the bread and butter workforce of this kind of entity,” he said.

Medical university upgrade

In October, the Lagos State Executive Council (SEC) approved the upgrade of Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) to the University of Medicine and Health Science (UMH).

According to Mr Abayomi, the university will operate across several clinical training facilities, with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) serving as the main clinical training site.

He said: “There is no going back on this upgrade by this administration.

“A sizeable expanse of land has been made available at Ketu-Ejirin in Epe to serve as the university’s main campus, which will house the administrative buildings and the basic medical science programmes, while the clinical training will be at LASUTH and other designated clinical training facilities across IBILE administrative divisions.”

Comment on the Medipark project

The Lagos State Government launched the Lagos Medipark project on Saturday, a healthcare initiative set to redefine medical services in the state.

The project is a public-private partnership between the Lagos State Government and IASO Medipark Limited.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presided over the project’s groundbreaking ceremony, which is located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.

According to its promoters, the medipark is expected to feature a 140-bed multi-specialist hospital, state-of-the-art diagnostics centre, residential spaces, training facilities and commercial and retail medical outlets.

In his comments, Mr Abayomi noted that the project seeks to transform medical infrastructure in Lagos, addressing Nigeria’s staggering 40,000-bed deficit, 10 per cent of which affects Lagos.

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He said another key initiative in Lagos is the virtual bed strategy, which involves converting physical beds to virtual beds using modern technology to reduce physical hospital expansion.

He said the Lagos Medipark project aligns with Mr Sanwo-Olu’s executive order to integrate healthcare into the mainstream economy, attracting investments in collaboration with the private sector investment.