Prototype of the New Massey Children Hospital, Lagos Island, being built by Lagos State Government. |
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday flagged off the upgrading of 107-year-old Massey Children Hospital on Lagos Island.
The hospital has now been relocated to a new area.
The single-storey 85-bed paediatrics facility, established
in 1914, is currently overstretched to meet the care demands of children
because of the increasing number of patients it receives daily; the inadequacy
prompted the State Government’s move to upgrade the hospital in order to meet
the needs of the residents.
Sanwo-Olu performed the ceremonial ground-breaking for the
reconstruction of the hospital on a new location in Adeniji Adele area, where
the hospital can conveniently discharge services being rendered.
At the event, the Governor also flagged-off the
rehabilitation of a network of three roads within Adeniji Adele axis.
At the ceremony was the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat,
members of the State’s cabinet, and residents of Lagos Island led by the Oba of
Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu.
The new Massey Children Hospital will operate in a
seven-storey edifice with 150-bed spaces, Independent Power Plant (IPP),
emergency section and multi-level car park. The facility will be completed in
24 months.
Sanwo-Olu said the construction of the New Massey Street
Children Hospital reflected his administration’s determination to close access
and capacity gaps in the health sector, adding that the repair work on three
roads on Lagos Island was to enable an inclusive development on the part of the
Lagos State Government.
He said: “The construction of the New Massey Children
Hospital reflects our unwavering determination to bridge all gaps in the health
sector while the reconstruction of three major roads on Lagos Island
demonstrates this administration’s commitment to an inclusive and
non-discriminatory developmental agenda for Lagos State. As a responsive
government, we identified the inadequacy of Massey Children Hospital to
continue to meet the needs of a megacity, particularly the children in need of
care.
“As a result of increasing number of patients, who daily
throng the hospital to access quality medical services, the capacity has been
overstretched and the hospital must be urgently upgraded to meet the patients’
needs. Guided by the second pillar of our T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, which encompasses
Health and the Environment, we are rebuilding, remodelling and repositioning
the Massey Children Hospital into a seven-storey, 150-bed, ultra-modern and
fit-for-purpose Paediatrics and Emergency General Hospital.”
On its completion, the Governor said the hospital would
provide secondary integrated care services and acute care to both in-patients
and out-patients in line with international best practices.
Sanwo-Olu said a new and well-equipped Massey Children
Hospital would help the State to significantly reduce infant and maternal
mortality rate.
The Governor said the upgrade of Adeniji Adele Road – a
2.234 kilometre two-lane single carriageway – and the rehabilitation of Okepopo
and Tapa Streets would eliminate the perennial flooding often experienced in
the area, while also improving road connectivity and traffic flow for
commuters.
He said: “We have engaged Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc,
a company with a great wealth of experience working in this terrain, and which
incidentally, undertook the initial construction of Adeniji Adele Road. I urge
commuters and residents of Lagos Island to bear with the temporary
inconveniences that usually characterise road construction works of this
magnitude. The contractor is under strict instructions to minimise the pains
and has been charged to ensure timely completion of the project.”
Before completion of the projects, Sanwo-Olu assured
residents of Lagos Island of complete regeneration of Pelewura Market, Jankara,
Idumagbo Avenue, Ojo Giwa Street, Swamp Street, and Anikantanmo Street, noting
that the project was the next phase of work on Lagos Island. He also promised
to meet with residents of Adeniji Adele Estate on the Government’s move to
regenerate the residential neighbourhood.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the
upgrade of Massey Children Hospital was the first to be implemented in the
master plan approved by the Governor for the transformation of medical
infrastructure in Lagos.
The new hospital, the Commissioner said, is being built on
4,000 square metres to create a comfortable environment for medical workers and
patients. Abayomi said the new hospital will have fully equipped Accident and
Emergency Department and radiology section, in addition to general and private
wards among others.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure,
Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, said the rehabilitation work on Adeniji Adele Road,
Okepopo and Tapa Streets was long overdue, as the roads form a strategic bypass
traversing the administrative boundary of Lagos Island Local Government Area
and Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area (LCDA).
The conditions of the roads, she pointed out, degenerated
over time because of poor drainage and blockage of the water outlet channels.
Adeyoye said the repair effort was a deliberate move by the
Governor to activate the complete regeneration of Lagos Island, with an
estimated size of 100.42 hectares.
She said: “The roads will be reconstructed and upgraded to
semi rigid pavement with reinforced concrete drains, culverts and median
barrier, transverse and longitudinal service ducts and installation of Low
Emission Diode (LED) powered street lighting. Alternative routes will also be
provided for public use in the course of construction, just as relocation of
utilities and services will be done before the project takes off.”
Oba Akiolu conveyed the residents’ appreciation to the
Governor on the Massey Children Hospital’s expansion and road repair projects,
saying Lagos Island remained the heartbeat of the State.
He, however, pleaded with Sanwo-Olu to extend the road
rehabilitation to the stretch on Adeniji Adele Health Centre. The monarch also
urged residents to accord full cooperation to the contractors handling the
projects.
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