Duchess International Hospital, Ikeja has marked its first anniversary with the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital Dr Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey, reiterating the hospital’s commitment to impacting the lives of all Nigerians through access to affordable world-class healthcare.
At a well attended ceremony at the Hospital’s main Auditorium on Thursday November 3, 2022 Dr. Shitta-Bey emphasised the hospital’s priorities to include : building trust in the healthcare system, providing high-quality, affordable services to Nigerians and reversing the trend of medical tourism abroad.
He reaffirmed the affordability of the hospital’s services and further confirmed that “to register as a patient at the Duchess International Hospital is ₦5,000, and to have a consultation with a specialist family physician is also ₦5,000”.
Reflecting on the landmark achievements of the past year, the Duchess Hospital CEO remarked that the hospital is proud to have successfully conducted a wide variety of routine and complex specialist interventions across a range of specialties and sub-specialty clinical services.
These procedures have been conducted in specialties such as Interventional Cardiology, Cardiothoracic surgery, Neurosurgery, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedic surgery, Gastroenterology and Reconstructive Plastic surgery, including a complex twelve-hour Breast Reconstruction operation following successful surgical treatment for breast cancer, performed within the first few weeks of commencing services at the Duchess International Hospital last year.
“It has been our privilege, in the past year to bring joy and satisfaction to the lives of ordinary Nigerians, and to restore hope, often in quite difficult circumstances, through life-saving treatment delivered right here at the Duchess International Hospital”, Dr. Shitta-Bey stated.
According to him, Duchess Hospital is an affordable hospital for all Nigerians and a “One-Stop-Shop” for primary, secondary and tertiary care services, positioned to save Nigerians millions of Naira in medical tourism for treatment of health conditions which would otherwise have required medical intervention abroad”.
This assertion was supported by patients’ testimonials delivered at the occasion, including one from Otunba Alaba Shonibare, who successfully underwent knee replacement surgery at the Hospital a few months ago.
He spoke passionately about the quality of care he received while on admission at the hospital and the reasons for his decision to have his knee replacement surgery performed at the Duchess Hospital in particular.
The highlight of the first anniversary celebration was the goodwill message and testimonial broadcast from His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He commended the medical personnel and management of the hospital for their professional and expert handling of his Orthopaedic surgery procedure, recently conducted in one of the hospital’s state-of-the-art theatres saying that the one week post-surgery was “perhaps one of the most comfortable hospital accommodations anywhere in the world”.
The Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the event, stated that the Lagos State government will continue to provide the right policy environment and infrastructural support for businesses and healthcare facilities to ensure that Lagos becomes a major destination and hub for healthcare delivery across sub-Saharan Africa.
He further noted that Lagos State has a strategic initiative to reverse medical tourism and bring back highly skilled and experienced medical professionals currently in the diaspora, back to Nigeria.
Professor Abayomi commended the management and staff of the Duchess International Hospital for their remarkable achievements in the last year and for the hospital’s immense contribution to delivering access to affordable quality healthcare to Lagosians.