Lagos govt begins constructing ‘biggest children’s hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa’

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has flagged off the construction of Massey Children’s Hospital, a 150-bed specialist hospital for children in Lagos.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the hospital, one of the achievements of his administration, will be the biggest Children’s Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa when completed.

The governor said this at the opening and ground-breaking ceremony of the Massey Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the construction of the facility reflects his administration’s unwavering determination to bridge all gaps in the health sector.

“As a responsive government, we identified the inadequacy of present Massey Street Children’s Hospital to continue to meet the needs of a megacity with a population of 22 million people.

“As a result of the steady and increasing number of patients who daily throng the hospital to access medical services, the capacity has been overstretched and must be urgently upgraded to provide quality service to patients,” he said.

The current Massey children’s hospital was established in 1914 as the First General Outpatient Clinic and Referral Centre in Lagos State. It was converted to a full-fledged Pediatrics Hospital in 1961, the governor said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said his administration is rebuilding, remodeling and repositioning the Massey Children’s Hospital into a seven-storey, 150-bed, Ultra-Modern and fit-for-purpose Pediatrics Programmed and Emergency General Hospital.

He added that when completed, the hospital will provide secondary integrated care services and acute care to both inpatients and outpatients in line with international best practices.

“At the inception of this administration, we promised you lasting and audacious reforms in critical sectors, which we encapsulated in our T.HE.M.E.S Agenda.

“I am proud to say that in the last two years, we have walked the talk, by not only initiating people-centred policies but by resiliently implementing projects that enhance the collective wellbeing of our people.

“We firmly believe that, when completed, these projects will positively impact the lives of the good people and residents of Lagos State including those who work and do business on this part of Lagos Island”, the governor said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Health in Lagos, said the hospital will be the first product of the medical blueprint strategy championed by the Governor for transforming the state’s healthcare infrastructure.

Mr Abayomi said the Massey Children’s Hospital is sitting on 4000 square metres, and will be a 150-bed multidisciplinary specialist paediatric hospital and one of its kind in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

“This hospital will take care of the welfare of children in Lagos as the old Massey Street has been doing. The facility is designed to treat all diseases that affects our children, to make sure we have healthy young children that will contribute to the economy of Lagos State,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state governor also launched other medical infrastructures in the state including the Oxygen Plant, Triage and Oxygen Centre, and the New Blood Transfusion Service Headquarters located at Gbagada General Hospital.

The governor also did the groundbreaking of a 24-unit Doctors’ Quarters, a project of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Chevron.

“As we prepare to celebrate the second anniversary of this administration, we are more determined than ever before to raise the standard and quality of our healthcare system to meet the healthcare needs of all Lagosians.

“We will continue to ensure that all Lagosians have access to quality healthcare irrespective of their socio-economic status. Although there is still so much to be done, I am proud of the considerable progress we have made in the last two years,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.