The maintenance framework for health facilities introduced by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration, through the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), to improve healthcare and the general environment of General Hospitals and Health Centres across the State has been commended by Medical Directors, Facility Managers and other stakeholders in the health sector.
The CEO/Medical Director of Ifako Ijaiye General Hospital, Dr. Bamidele Mustapha, disclosed that the hospital has been receiving high praise from patients for the excellent care they are receiving and the exceptional way in which the facility is now being managed.
According to him, with the arrangement on ground, the hospital management’s main focus is on clinical and service delivery while the facility managers support the hospital in handling scheduled maintenance services such as preventing power or equipment failures, creating hygienic spaces to prevent the spread of bacteria or virus in the hospital building.
Emphasising the relief that the outsourcing of health facility maintenance has brought to the hospital, Dr. Mustapha praised the government for the intervention saying, “The ambience at the MCC is now super. You’ll be encouraged to follow up on your appointment. I give kudos to Mr. Governor”.
The Medical Director added that the government has not just carried out renovation at the Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital but gave the facility adequate personnel taking care of cleaning, plumbing, electrical and security matters.
He said: “I wasn’t happy with the dilapidated state of the hospital when I was posted here but the intervention of the government was timely. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has done well considering that in this part of the world our problem is maintenance”.
In a similar vein, Deputy Medical Director, Epe General Hospital, Dr. Omoniyi Gbolagade Ganiyu, said the outsourcing of maintenance work has improved efficiency and streamlined their operations, adding that the facility managers have been able to coordinate different maintenance services which the internally generated revenue of the general hospital could not have covered.
He said: “The initiative is good. Our MCC is now cleaner. The stress of maintenance has been taken off us. We will just want the government to extend the services beyond the maternal and childcare centre and let it cover the whole of the general hospital.
The Facility Manager in charge of the popular Lagos Island Maternity, Mr. Femi Dada of Viropact Earth Services Ltd, said that his company performed routine maintenance of ventilation and air conditioning systems, electrical, sanitary and plumbing; as well as drainage, sewage treatment and maintenance of water treatment plant at the facility.
His words: “We appreciate the government for giving us this job. We are passionate about it as it has enabled us to employ more hands for our services. We thank the Governor and the hospital management for their cooperation”.
Similarly, the Facility Manager for the Epe MCC, Mr. Aliu Adedeji of Rooming Outsourcing, which is in charge of Epe General Hospital, said the company has 44 staff working at the medical facility.
Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), breathed new life into hospital maintenance with the introduction of facility managers to ensure proper maintenance of all Maternal and Childcare Centres, Accident and Emergency Centres, Lagos State Teaching Hospitals, Doctors Quarters and Infectious Disease Hospitals among others.
