UCH Ibadan gets advanced Cathlab as FG ramps up health infrastructure
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The Federal Government has inaugurated the Advanced Radio Diagnostic and Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory (Cathlab) centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The centre was inaugurated on Monday by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, who described the unveiling as a promise made and promise kept.
He recalled that in February 2024, President Tinubu approved a package of 16 major health infrastructure projects comprising six cancer centres and the expansion of MedServe with 10 diagnostic facilities.
The coordinating minister said that the 10 diagnostic facilities have been completed and are now being inaugurated, with the UCH facility as one of them.
He said that three cancer centres have been completed, while another three are underway, bringing the total completion to 13 out of 16.
“This is massive infrastructure investment never seen in 66 years of independence. In three years, we have seen that, but more is to come,”Pate said.
He commended the Managing Directors of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, and MedServe, Dr. Tolulope Adewole, for delivery.
Pate assured the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashid Ladoja, and other stakeholders that plans are underway for a major revamp of UCH infrastructure, describing the health institution as a fantastic icon of excellence that needs renewal.
On the health workforce, the coordinating minister said that government was addressing the challenges of the “japa” syndrome, noting that quotas for the training of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students have been doubled.
“But it takes time for that to manifest, because government is working round the clock to see that remuneration and compensation are improved accordingly to what government can afford,”he said.
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Prof. Taiwo Oyedele, said the facility is part of the healthcare expansion programme run by NSIA through MedServe.
Oyedele said that many Nigerians travel abroad for treatment that can be provided locally, but the federal government is taking steps to reduce outbound medical tourism.
He said that 13 Phase 1 centres, including Bauchi, commissioned earlier on Monday and that of Ibadan, which is being inaugurated this evening, are expected to serve approximately 300,000 Nigerians within the first two years of operations.
The coordinating minister of the economy listed the benefitting locations as Bauchi, Jos, Nguru, Ibadan, Ilorin, Asaba, Enugu, Uyo, Kaduna, and Sokoto.
“Government budgets alone cannot meet Nigeria’s development needs. We must mobilise private and other development capital,”Oyedele said.
He said that Ibadan, with its concentration of medical training and research institutions, has a particular role to play in that ambition.
“Our reforms are about improving people’s lives. We are converting stability into investment, investment into services, and growth into better lives.
“The returns on this investment will be measured in diagnosis made correctly and on time, and in lives saved,”he said.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, said that the project marks the culmination of a 788-day journey.
Otegbayo added that the journey was from the groundbreaking on August 8, 2024, following an MoU signed in Abuja in July 2022, to the inauguration on October 5, 2026.
Otegbayo said that the facility, executed in partnership with NSIA and MedServe, would provide a broad range of specialised services, including advanced diagnostics and catheterisation to address the growing burden of complex diseases.
He said that the partnership demonstrates what institutions with complementary strengths can achieve, aligning with UCH’s tripartite mandate of Clinical Services, Research, and Training.
The CMD, who reiterated his mantra of Staff Welfare and Patients’ Comfort, commended President Bola Tinubu, Pate, and Oyedele, and all partners for making the project a reality.
