The Kogi Central District lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has called for urgent attention to the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital in Okene as part of the 2025 budget.
In a statement issued to journalists yesterday in Abuja by Israel Arogbonlo, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s chief press secretary, the lawmaker emphasised the need for the hospital to operate effectively to provide quality healthcare services to the community.
During a Saturday meeting of the Senate Committee on Health with the heads of various federal medical centres, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan highlighted the deteriorating state of Ukpogo Cottage Hospital, an annexe of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja.
She noted that despite significant federal investments, the hospital has remained non-operational, failing to fulfil its intended purpose.
“There is a facility annexed to you called the Ukpogo Cottage Hospital, Okene. It’s a 50-bed capacity, fully equipped hospital.
Why has it not been operational, considering the fact that it is an extension of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, and was established purposely to cater to accidents and armed robbery cases along the busy Okene-Auchi Road?” she queried.
The lawmaker also sought clarification on whether the hospital’s operational costs had been included in the 2025 budget.
In response, Dr Olatunde Alabi, the chief medical director of FMC Lokoja, explained that the facility was handed over to them four years ago.
He acknowledged that efforts had been made to make the hospital functional but noted that various challenges hindered progress.
He pointed out that attempts to assign staff to the hospital had been unsuccessful due to a severe shortage of personnel at FMC Lokoja.
Dr Alabi appealed to the committee for intervention, stressing that operationalising the facility would significantly reduce the patient load at FMC Lokoja, particularly from the Kogi Central Area.
He also warned that the equipment at Ukpogo Cottage Hospital was deteriorating due to disuse and cautioned that prolonged inaction would worsen the situation.
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