In his determination to maintain the state’s enviable record of safe delivery of pregnant women and its robust child
health care, the Ondo state Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has concluded plans to commission a new Mother& Child hospital in Ondo town.
This is sequel to the success of mother and child Akure. The state government has replicated same in Ondo in line with Mimiko’s promise of ensuring that each senatorial district in the state has the facility.
Due for commissioning on Friday, the 30th of November, the new facility has four wings namely: inpatient, outpatient, critical and administrative wing. The hospital is 100 bedded and it offers integrated services with in -built laboratory services and pharmacy in same building.
Equipped with state of the art modern equipment, the hospital is located within the Ondo medical village in Laje area of the town. The village also accommodates the Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic and Trauma centres, Rapid response information centre for accident victims as well as a Mourgue.
The World Bank declaration that Ondo state, prior to the advent of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko’s administration, had the worst maternal and child health indices in the south-west zone of Nigeria warranted the new regime to undertake an urgent reform of the dysfunctional health system, hence its Abiye (safe motherhood) project, with the pilot launched in October, 2009 in Ifedore LGA to bring qualitative and effective health care to women and children where they live, work and play, and develop sustainable equity-based health care services that will provide universal access to the people.
The revised goals are to reduce maternal and child mortality by at least 50% and increase facility utilization by at least 60%, all by the end of the year 2012.
In line with the Safe motherhood goal, the Mother and Child Hospital Akure was established to address the phases of delay contributing to maternal and child deaths in Ondo state and factors militating against achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
It was commissioned to mark the first year anniversary of the Mimiko administration on the 27th of February 2010, as the premier purpose-built state-of-the-art 100-bed facility dedicated to the care of pregnant women and children less than 5 years of age, offering tertiary level health services free of charge.
.The commissioning on Friday, of the Ondo Mother and child hospital is expected to further consolidate on the gains already recorded with the Akure hospital.
Some of the gains include managing and discharging routine post-vaginal delivery patients within 24 hours and post-caesarean section patients within 48 hours without compromising on quality of care, thereby reducing cost of care and work load per patient, and increasing patient turnover by more than 100%, simultaneously.
The Mother and Child hospital has also allowed for the development of a confidential enquiry format of reporting and recording maternal and child deaths with emphasis on avoidable factors, missed opportunities and levels of substandard care among others.