The Oyo State Government has published a maintenance manual for primary health care centers in Oyo State, urging residents, especially rural residents, to receive quality and affordable healthcare at each functional facility.
Health Commissioner Dr Bode Ladipo, who called from Ibadan on Monday, said the Oyo state government had devoted significant resources to facilitate the upgrading of the PHC.
The essence of this step is to ensure that every political ward has a viable health care center, he said, adding that about 210 of these PHCs were renovated during Governor Makinde’s first term, while others will be completed in the following Make up the remaining 351 PHCs.
Dr Ladipo said the Oyo state government was aware of the manpower shift from this climate to a more economically prosperous one, adding that the government had started to look inward for support resources to ensure the needs of practitioners were being met.
He reiterated the Oyo state government’s commitment to maintaining all of the state’s health care facilities, saying they combined should outlast previous governments.
“For this reason, the Oyo State Government has produced a small manual for the maintenance of new facilities,” the commissioner said.
Earlier, ‘Dr Funmi Salami, Special Adviser on Health Issues and Chairperson of the Governor’s PHC Retrofit Steering Committee, said that maintenance manuals are crucial as a good maintenance culture will prolong the life of the infrastructure we have built in Oyo State.
She reiterated the Oyo State Government’s commitment to provide quality healthcare to all citizens of Oyo State by converting 351 Primary Care Centers across the state (one Primary Care Center per ward) into Category 3 Primary Care Centres.
According to her, “the Class 3 PHC has about 13 rooms with portable water and electricity”.
“Maintaining a PHC in a proactive manner is critical to its functionality and longevity. This maintenance manual will help ensure end users perform preventive maintenance on a regular basis,” she said.
Addressing the shortage of healthcare workers in the country due to brain drain and other factors, she said it was the commission’s responsibility to think outside the box to staff PHCs.
She said decisions had been made on how to staff the PHC in the short, medium and long term.
Stakeholders for this event include: Special Assistant for the Environment (Technical Lead Governor’s PHC Retrofit Steering Committee), Engineers. Ademola Aderinto, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Local Government, President of ALGON, Hon. Sikiru Sanda; ALGON Executive, ES Primary Healthcare Board, Dr MB Olatunji; ES OYISHA, Dr Sola Akande WDC Regional Chair, Local Government Health Medical Officer, Dean School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dean School of Health Sciences and Technology.