The eighth Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, has inaugurated major projects undertaken by his administration which included the expanded blood bank and brachytherapy unit as part of activities to mark his one year in office.

Others projects inaugurated were the obstetrics and gynecology theatre, renovation of accident and emergency unit, cash and carry pharmacy and an oxygen gas plant.

Highlighted some of the achievements of the hospital since the inception of his administration,Otegbayo stated this while addressing newsmen on Monday 2nd of March 2020 at the Board Room of University College Hospital in Ibadan.

Otegbayo stated that UCH had commenced In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedure after many years of hiatus.

“This particular project had remained moribund since the building was commissioned in 2011 without the needed facilities.

“We have made all the necessary equipment and personnel available and to the glory of God, the IVF procedure commenced with the first batch of five patients in February 2020.

“It was successful and in the coming months and years, the IVF clinic will continue and never to stop anymore.

“Also on Feb. 26, we had two kidney transplants. This is not novel to UCH, but we have reached a point that all measures should be out in place to sustain such service. It is of note that the last kidney transplant was in year 2016.

“Our blood bank has been expanded and equipped to accommodate the numerous requests for blood during surgeries and other medical usage.

“Gradually, we are working hard to meet the clinical challenges facing the hospital,” he said.

The CMD appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to support the various developmental projects of the hospital in order to provide quality patient care to all Nigerians irrespective of status.

“A lot of our achievements have been made possible with prudent management of our IGR and through the help of some well-meaning Nigerians and groups who have partnered with us.

“There is no gainsaying the government allocation alone cannot provide all the needed funds for all the developmental projects in the hospital.

“Our major areas of need in the hospital include power and water supply, renovation of clinic and wards, building of the out-patient extension and replacement of old water pipes in the hospital.

“To achieve our laudable targets, we solicit more assistance from individuals, organisation and groups,” he said.

The CEO of UCH decried the huge amount of funds expended on powering generators due to poor electricity supply.

Recall that CEOAFRICA reported that Otegbayo assumed office as the CMD of the institution on March 1, 2019.

The CMD declared that power was the topmost challenge facing the hospital said its importance cannot be overemphasized. The don, who said if power is taken during a surgical operation, a lot of things may go wrong stated that the major areas of need of the hospital included water supply, renovation of clinics and wards as well as the building of the hospitals outpatient extension.

“On the average, we generate on the average N200million monthly, however, what we spend on diesel and other things to keep the hospital going is so huge.

“We still have very serious challenges in the areas of power and water supply. These two are vital to the operation of the hospital. In the area of power, we have had to operate mainly on power generating sets.

“We have almost 75 generators in different locations within the premises. It is pathetic that a huge chunk of our IGR is expended on diesel to power the generators.

“Government allocation alone cannot provide all the needed funds, so we solicit more assistance from individuals and groups in helping us to achieve our targets.” “Our intention is to provide equipment for the diagnosis of diseases that are endemic in Nigeria and to bring back our cardiac programme which had been in lieu for quite a while. We also intend to ensure that the kidney transplant that was done last week becomes sustainable.”