FG kick-starts the process of converting FMC Azare to a Teaching Hospital.

By Mohammed Kaka

The Federal Government of Nigeria has commenced the process of converting the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Azare in Katagum local government area of Bauchi state to the status of a teaching hospital.

Dr. Jimoh Olawole Salaudeen, Director of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, who stated this when he visited the Emir of Katagum, Alhaji Dr. Umar Faruq 11, in his palace on Tuesday, informed that his team was in Azare and Misau on an assessment visit to the Federal Medical Centre Azare and General Hospital Misau in preparation for the upgrading of the two hospitals to the Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, respectively.

“During the last administration, a university of medical sciences was approved for Northeast and Azare in particular, and in the retraining of the medical students, the university serves as the school while the hospital serves as the laboratory, where they need to undergo a lot of practicals,”  Dr. Jimoh said.

He added that with the Federal University of Health Sciences Azare (FUHSA), the Federal Medical Centre in the same Azare was the closest to serving as a laboratory when the hospital was converted to a teaching hospital.

“Federal Medical Centres are set up in a state where there is no teaching hospital, and the major difference between a federal medical centre and a teaching hospital is that the former is more for medical students; that means any time the federal government puts up a university that will be training medical students, the nearest federal institution there as a hospital will become a teaching hospital,”  he said.

According to Dr. Jimoh, “same thing is applicable here; the federal university of medical sciences has come, the students are already in 200 level, and come towards the end of next year, they are to transform from pre-clinical students to become clinical students. Clinical students use more of the hospital for their practicals, and that is where they come across the living, which are the patients, which are very important instruments for them to learn from.”

He said that the federal ministry of health, in collaboration with its education counterpart, was in Azare, Katagum local government area of Bauchi State, to assess the facilities in the federal medical centre in Azare.

The Director of Hospital Services said that the assessment visit will help the federal government identify the gap and see what they have on hand in terms of personnel, infrastructure, equipment, and land mass for future expansion.

“We want to identify the gap and fill the gap so that it can be appropriate for the training of medical students. We are transforming the federal medical centre Azare into a teaching hospital; the minister of health directed that we should come here and look at the General Hospital Misau for possible transformation to a federal medical centre so that the people within that axis would feel the presence of the federal government towards improvement of their health  status,” he further explained.

Dr. Jimoh, who noted that they have visited all the institutions, the university, the present FMC Azare, and the current General Hospital Misau, revealed that they found out that all the facilities are there, adding that once the facilities are better equipped and the manpower is improved, FMC Azare is good to become a teaching hospital.

“If the facilities are improved, with manpower improved, FMC Azare and general hospital Misau are good to become teaching hospitals and federal medical centers. They have the structure, though they lack the  manpower,” he said.

The director added that they were able to see some equipment that could fit into the tertiary health institution.

He commended the Emirs of Katagum and Misau for giving them a warm reception and showing enthusiasm and hope of seeing the two institutions transformed for better health care delivery.

Also speaking, Dr. Dauda Abubakar Katagum( Zanna Dujuma of Katagum), Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre FMC Azare, said that the federal government’s move to transform the hospital into a teaching hospital has been anticipated for a long time.

The MD, while appreciating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the opportunity, said that the Northeast has been in a very disadvantaged situation in terms of health care services.

He, however, expressed delight that, with the current effort of the federal government to transform FMC Azare into a teaching hospital and General Hospital Misau into the Federal Medical Centre Misau, a lot of medical personnel would be trained to cater for the whole of the Northeast zone in terms of medical doctors, nurses, radiographers, and dental surgeons, among others.

The medical director, who called on the host communities to enrol in the university to study different courses relating to health, urged philanthropists to support disadvantaged students who could not afford the tuition fees.

On his part, the Emir of Katagum, Alhaji (Dr.) Umar Faruq 11, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for initiating the transformation of the federal medical center Azare into a teaching hospital, adding that the gesture will improve healthcare delivery to the citizens.

He appreciated the resource assessment committee of the federal government led by Dr. Jimoh for taking the time to visit all the hospitals as well as paying him homage in his palace.