JAPA: Oyo Govt Embarking On Massive Recruitment Of Medical Professionals – Commissioner

By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan

Oyo State Government has embarked on a massive recruitment of medical professionals to reduce the deficit In the primary healthcare sector in the state.

This was disclosed on Thursday by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi while addressing newsmen at the Governor’s Office Briefing Room, during the morning session of the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing

The Commissioner stressed that Oyo state has been able to retain its medical professionals amid the growing challenges posed by the Japa syndrome

She maintained that Oyo state government has been able to retain a good number of health professionals as a result of Gov Makinde’s foresight in improving the welfare packages of health workers and putting in place different measures to make the sector attractive to professionals

“We have about 260 medical doctors in the state. Initially, we had about 350 but because of the Japa syndrome and for the fact that some people are retiring. The state government has embarked on a massive recruitment to reduce the deficit”, she said

Dr Ajetunmobi added, ” In the Primary Health Care sector, we recruited about 3,933 health professionals and we made sure we have at least one Medical Officer in each of the local governments.”,

” So, we have 33 new Medical Officers now. We also have some that are PHC coordinators; some of them are doctors as well, and they can go around overseeing what is going on. We could have had more, but because some of our people retired and some moved out.”

Dr Ajetunmobi stressed ” Let me also say that this number excludes the doctors at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso. I think we have close to 100 doctors there. Also, they have resident doctors and medical students that are helping in the work at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital”.

“The Oyo State Government has been trying with regards to funding, but you cannot prevent people from saying they want to go. Some will say they want to go for academic-related courses or Master’s degrees and they will just leave like that. So, what we have put in place is a mechanism for replacement. You go now, immediately you are replaced by someone who wants to work.

“Another thing that we have been able to do is that some of our retired consultants or retired personnel that are agile and are still willing to work, we give them the opportunities to come in and work. They are the ones that will now say, okay, I’ll be coming two times a week or three times a week. That one is also ongoing. Another thing is the approval of allowances and we have done that. Those are some of the things we are doing to encourage our professionals to continue to stay.”

The Commissioner pointed out that the Oyo state health sector is already witnessing improvements under Governor Seyi Makinde as a result of policies being implemented by the state government in the health sector which have led to the overall improvement of the sector.

Emphasizing that the policies also helped to mitigate the effect of Japa syndrome by medical professionals, she said these policies have directly resulted in improved quality of lives for residents of the state, reduction in maternal mortality rates, infant mortality rates, under-5 mortality rates and upgrade of hundreds of health facilities and infrastructure
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Dr Ajetunmobi said the Gov ‘Seyi Makinde administration has also improved the health sector by recruiting thousands of health professionals and improving their welfare to address medical brain drain, saying, “in the area of Primary Health Care, Oyo State has been leading with vision, courage and action. At the time that many states are grappling with the basics of healthcare delivery, Oyo State moved far ahead, setting a powerful example of how to transform Primary Healthcare Services into a sustainable, equitable and digitally-driven system that puts people first”.

The Commissioner pointed out that other achievements included improved service delivery and training, enhanced referral linkages between primary, secondary and tertiary levels, statewide digital integration and proactive health workforce expansion as well as elevated health access across the state, with the government renovating several other health facilities in the secondary and tertiary health sectors.

Emphasizing that the state also recorded other achievements, including the recruitment of 332 healthcare workers at secondary health facilities and increment of internship quotas, ongoing data analysis on cardiovascular risk for policy development, achievement of Pre-TAS success and initiated TAS for filariasis-free LGAs, oxygen plant resuscitation and renovation of Accident & Emergency Unit of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and accreditations for the colleges with increase in quota of students intake, she said the state government also recorded successes with Omituntun Free Medical Mission, which has reached hundreds of thousands of residents and the enrolment of over 121,000 residents, including pensioners, public primary school pupils and persons living with disabilities into the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme.

According to the Commissioner, the Gov Makinde led administration made a huge mark in the area of primary health care, saying ” 212 Primary Healthcare Centres have been renovated and equipped, while another 87 are at various levels of completion, explaining that out of the 212 PHCs that are fully renovated and equipped, the government is currently revitalising 106 to either L2/L3 Health Facilities for the purpose of Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care”.

” Of these 106, the Commissioner, noted that 66 PHCs are being upgraded with the provision of 10KVA Solar Inverter System for 24-hour power supply, red brick incinerator, units of computer tablets for EMR, medical equipment such as nebulizer, pulse oximeter, oxygen cylinders, point of care testing kits, among others.”