Lagos State Government has said it is expanding access to specialised health care with the building of hospital facilities in Ojo and Somolu, as the 280-bed Ojo General Hospital nears completion and a new 180-bed hospital takes shape in Somolu.

Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said this at the weekend during an inspection of the two projects.

He said the Ojo hospital was about 85 per cent complete and would be ready for inauguration by the end of this year or first quarter of next year.

The projects, according to the commissioner, are part of the state’s plan to increase health care capacity, provide advanced specialist services and reduce the need for residents to seek treatment outside Lagos and Nigeria.

At Ojo, Abayomi said building had reached the finishing stage, with high-tech medical equipment and furniture already ordered ahead of inauguration.

“We are at the point where we’re doing the finishing touches. We’ve ordered high-tech equipment. We’ve ordered furniture,” he said.

He said the government would intensify monitoring of the project to ensure outstanding works were completed to the required standards.

The new Somolu General Hospital is being developed as a seven-floor, 180-bed facility and is about 15 per cent complete. It is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2027.

Abayomi said the project became necessary because the existing 60-bed Somolu General Hospital could no longer serve its growing catchment population.

He said about 107,000 registered patients used the existing facility, while its wider catchment population was estimated at between five million and 10 million people.

“Instead of upgrading it, we decided to build a new Somolu Hospital,” he said.

The existing hospital, he added, would continue to provide uninterrupted services until the new facility became operational, after which the old structure would be demolished and its site redeveloped for parking and other support services.

Beyond increasing bed capacity, the new Somolu hospital is expected to serve as Lagos’ head and neck super-specialty centre, providing advanced services in plastic surgery, maxillofacial surgery, ear, nose and throat, ophthalmology and dentistry.

It will also provide core medical services in medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology.

Abayomi said the designation was part of the government’s strategy of transforming general hospitals into centres of excellence with specialised areas of competence.

He said the strategy was aimed at making advanced medical interventions available locally and reducing outbound medical tourism.

“Over the next five to 10 years, we believe every kind of medical intervention will be available in Lagos in both the public and the private sector, so that outbound medical tourism will stop, and in fact, it will reverse,” he said.

The commissioner said the new hospital designs also incorporated renewable energy, low-carbon technologies, water harvesting, improved sewage management, better movement of patients and workers, and stronger infection prevention and control systems.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Works, Dr. Adekunle Olayinka, who accompanied the commissioner, said the inspection confirmed the 85 per cent completion status of the Ojo project.

He said government quality assurance and control teams had identified minor areas requiring correction, which had been communicated to the contractor.

Olayinka added that the solar installation at Ojo met the required specifications and would provide an alternative power source when the hospital became operational.

He said the Somolu project, which encountered some initial challenges, had also gained momentum after the issues were resolved.

According to him, the facility would incorporate modern engineering systems, green technologies, carbon-reduction measures and solar power.

Lagos Government said the infrastructure projects would complement ongoing health care financing reforms, including compulsory health insurance, as part of efforts to strengthen the state’s health system and establish Lagos as a regional destination for specialised medical care.

The inspection team included officials of the Ministry of Health’s Medical Project Implementation Unit, the Office of Works, Somolu General Hospital management, contractors and technical project management teams. (The Nation)