Oyebanji Urges Health Workers to Show Compassion, Professionalism

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has said that his administration’s huge investments in the health sector is aimed at making quality healthcare more accessible and effective for the people in rural areas.

Oyebanji charged health workers in the state to make the best use of the modern equipment provided across government hospitals to deliver healthcare and as well as be compassionate and uphold the highest level of professional standards.

The governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye, who spoke on Thursday during the inauguration of a renovated general hospital at Ifaki Ekiti, charged residents to take ownership of the health facilities in their domains and protect them from being damaged.

He said, “Our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, I urge you to make the best use of this facility and the equipment provided, deliver care with compassion, uphold the highest professional standards and let this new environment inspire excellence.”

He listed the modern equipment provided across the Ekiti State general hospitals to include a theatre hall with anaesthesia machine, operating tables with accessories, instruments and Mayo tables, a mobile theatre operating light, suction pump, 300-watt diathermy, patient monitor, defibrillator, stainless steel cabinet, stretcher, IV poles and light box.

The governor expressed his government’s commitment, more than ever, to keep raising the standard of healthcare in all the towns and villages in Ekiti, as he warned against self-medication that could subject citizens to untimely death or infirmity.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Oyebanji Filani, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Hospitals Management Board, Dr Olasunkanmi Alabi, said that the Oyebanji administration had renovated and equipped five general hospitals in the state to make quality healthcare accessible for the people at the grassroots.

Filani said, “We have about five facilities that have enjoyed this graciousness from His Excellency. We’ve done Ilawe, we’ve done Oke Imesi, now we’re in Ifaki, and we’ll still be going to some other facilities after this.

“So we want to appreciate His Excellency for this goodwill, for what he has done for us. He has not only renovated, he has equipped hospitals with state-of-the-art equipment.”

In his remarks, the Olufaki of Ifaki Ekiti, Oba John Falore, appreciated the quick response of Governor Oyebanji to the outcry over the erstwhile poor condition of the hospital.

Similarly, in June 2023, PUNCH Online reported that Oyebanji gave N814 million to the 177 primary healthcare facilities in the state as investment funds for them to procure drugs, purchase equipment and carry out renovations, among others. Oyebanji charged the facilities to develop work plans that would guide the use of the fund, saying, “It is important that these funds are used judiciously. Our focus must be to deploy these resources in a manner that is catalytic and complementary to existing programmes.”

The governor spoke in Ado Ekiti during the flag-off of the World Bank-supported Impact Project in Ekiti State, where he handed over N4.6 million in cheques to each of the 177 PHC facilities in the state, amounting to N814.2 million.