The outgoing Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Dr Adedamola Dada, said the hospital had been paying a N20 million monthly electricity bill for just three hours of daily public power supply.
According to him, this extraordinary expense has led the facility to consume 80,000 litres of diesel monthly to maintain an uninterrupted power supply for critical health care services.
Dada revealed this information at a media gathering on Saturday, where he highlighted the hospital’s achievements and challenges.
He explained that the hospital has generated 95 per cent of its own power over the past seven years to keep the facility running and meet patients’ health needs.
The medical director acknowledged that this situation has financially strained the hospital, but emphasised that power remains essential for any functional health facility.
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“We are the only federal public hospital that receives a two-to-three-hour supply of public power, but we provide 24-hour power because we are automated and can’t function without power.
“When we wanted to switch our service to automated, a lot of people asked if it will be attainable because of the epileptic power supply in the country.
“We didn’t allow that to limit us; we factored in a power delivery mechanism and generated 22 hours of power supply on our own over the last seven years.
“Though this development has eaten deep into the hospital’s finances, it is very essential for our service,” he said.
He noted that the quality of care at the hospital has attracted more patients and public recognition over time.
Dada mentioned that in 2022, the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency named the hospital as the most standard and compliant hospital in Lagos State.
He added that most recently, the Bureau of Public Service Reform under the Presidency recognised the hospital as one of the trailblazers in ICT use in the public health sector, among other achievements.
