New Osun 80-bed facility idle as general hospital crumbles

Despite the commissioning of a new 80-bed hospital furnished with modern medical tools in Ipetumodu, Osun State, more than three years ago, the facility remains shut, with its wards and equipment standing idle, while the old General Hospital in the community continues to deteriorate, YUSUF OKETOLA writes

For residents of Ipetumodu, Osun State, the sight of an 80-bed hospital fitted with modern medical facilities should ordinarily inspire hope. Instead, the imposing structure has become a reminder of a promise yet to be fulfilled.

Three years after it was commissioned, the hospital, facilitated by the former Special Adviser to the late President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, is yet to admit its first patient.

The facility, conceived to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to residents of Ipetumodu and neighbouring communities, was commissioned on May 23, 2023, and subsequently handed over to the Osun State Government for staffing, management and operation.

But more than three years later, the hospital remains largely unused, even as residents continue to grapple with the deteriorating condition of the existing General Hospital in the community.

For the people, the irony is difficult to ignore: a newly built and equipped hospital stands idle while the older public health facility struggles to meet the healthcare needs of the community.

Additional burden

The 80-bed facility was expected to ease pressure on existing healthcare infrastructure and provide residents with improved access to medical services.

Instead, it has remained shut, leaving the community waiting for the government to take the necessary steps to make the facility operational.

The prolonged inactivity has also created an additional burden for residents.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the community has been paying for monthly security services at the facility because the hospital has not commenced operations.

The Secretary of the Ipetumodu Development Forum, Mr Kehinde Oyetunmbi, said the community had made several efforts to get the government to activate the facility.

Speaking in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, he expressed concern that the project had remained unused for more than three years after it was handed over to the state government.

Oyetunmbi said, “It’s been over three years since the hospital, facilitated by the Oluomo of Ipetumodu, Femi Adesina, was commissioned and handed over to the state government for staffing, operation and management. But nothing has been done up to this moment.

“It’s quite unfortunate that the facility’s monthly security salary was left in the hands of the community, being assisted by the Ipetumodu Development Forum all these years. A government facility, for that matter.”

Beyond the delay in commencing operations, the hospital has also suffered from insecurity.

Sunday PUNCH learnt that the facility was previously burgled, with some items, including air conditioners and generating-set cables, reportedly stolen.

The incident drew the attention of the state government through the office of the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Akinyode Oyewusi, who facilitated the replacement of some of the stolen equipment.

However, the intervention did not immediately translate into the activation of the hospital.

The contractor handling the project is reportedly yet to complete the remaining work required to make the facility operational.

The contractor was said to have attributed the delay to the exhaustion of funds released for the project.

Since then, little or no significant progress has been recorded at the facility, leaving residents frustrated over what they described as a wasted opportunity to improve healthcare delivery in the community.

Community bears burden

For the Ipetumodu Development Union, the continued closure of the facility has created an unexpected financial burden.

The National Public Relations Officer of the union, Habeeb Arayemi, said the community had been spending money to protect and maintain a facility it expected the government to operate.

“The state government has made little effort there. They constructed a police post, but there is more to do. The location of the 80-bed hospital is strategic. It’s not only for Ipetumodu but for all neighbouring communities. No single patient has been admitted to the facility since it was built,” Arayemi said.

According to him, the community was forced at one point to provide its own night guards after it became difficult to secure people willing to work at the facility.

He said the deposed traditional ruler of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, had also personally paid for security at the facility for some months.

“We are overwhelmed at this moment with the running cost of the place. The government should please intervene urgently. Ipetumodu Development Forum is the one paying for the security of the place now,” he lamented.

Arayemi recalled that the facility had been attacked by thieves who removed several air conditioners and electrical cables in one day.

“About 10 air conditioners were looted on a single day from the facility. It was also on the same day the electricity cable was cut off and taken away,” he said.

Although the government spent millions of naira replacing some of the stolen items, Arayemi said continued community intervention had been necessary to prevent further looting.

He said the premises had also become overgrown with weeds, adding that the community was still searching for resources to clear the vegetation.

Arayemi appealed to the government to prevent the facility from deteriorating beyond recovery.

“We are appealing to the government not to allow the place to go into ruin so it won’t go to waste. It is the people that will be at the receiving end,” he said.

Arayemi also appealed to the Federal Government to consider affiliating the facility with the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, as a possible way of ensuring its effective operation.

A community travelling for treatment

The closure of the 80-bed facility is taking place against the backdrop of inadequate services at the existing General Hospital in Ipetumodu.

The Vice Chairman of the Ipetumodu Development Forum, Banji Akinloye, said residents often had to travel to Ile-Ife to seek medical attention because of the poor state of the local hospital.

“People go as far as Ife to get medical help. Any resident experiencing ordinary headaches will have to go to Ife for treatment because the health centres are not something to be proud of due to lack of facilities,” he said.

Akinloye said private hospitals were available but remained beyond the reach of some residents because of the cost of treatment.

“The private hospital in the community is doing its best, but not everybody can afford it,” he said.

Akinloye expressed concern about the danger residents could face during a medical emergency, particularly when they had to leave the community in search of treatment and contend with the distance to Ile-Ife.

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“Imagine if there is an emergency; it will be disastrous before getting to Ife if there is no transportation,” he said, his concern evident in his voice.

For him, the solution does not necessarily require the construction of another hospital.

“The equipment is there; we just need personnel. We will be happy if the state government can help us in this responsibility,” Akinloye added.

The hospital that should have changed everything

The 80-bed facility was intended to provide an alternative to the struggling General Hospital and serve a wider population beyond Ipetumodu.

Community leaders say the hospital’s location makes it particularly important, given the number of surrounding settlements that depend on medical services in the area.

Arayemi said the facility was strategically located to serve communities beyond Ipetumodu.

The community leaders are therefore appealing to the government to deploy doctors, nurses and other health workers to the hospital and finally open its doors to patients.

Akinloye said several efforts had been made to draw the attention of the state government to the situation.

“Since it has been handed over to the state government, we really don’t know what is happening. The community has been the one paying for security guards employed to safeguard the place so the equipment there won’t be looted,” he said.

He recalled that the community also had to intervene after a rainstorm damaged part of the roof.

“There was a time a rainstorm blew away some parts of the roof; it was the community that repaired it. The maintenance has been the responsibility of the community, and it is weighing us down,” Akinloye said.

A general hospital in decline

While the new hospital remains unused, the old General Hospital in Ipetumodu continues to serve residents despite its deteriorating state.

During the Sunday PUNCH visit on September 20, 2026, the ageing facility appeared quiet, with no medical worker seen on the premises.

A resident told our correspondent that workers did not normally report for duty at weekends.

Community sources said the hospital currently had only one nurse and a doctor. The nurse reportedly works from Monday to Friday, while the doctor is said to report on Mondays and Thursdays.

The limited presence of medical personnel, it was gathered, often leaves patients stranded, particularly those who visit the facility at weekends.

Built in 1991 by the administration of former military President Ibrahim Babangida, the General Hospital has now fallen into a state of disrepair.

Parts of the roof and asbestos have been blown off, leaving sections of the building exposed, while the structure itself has become a shadow of the facility it once was.

The hospital also depends solely on well water after its borehole stopped functioning.

Moving through the premises, our correspondent observed wards without beds and functioning medical equipment.

A small office had reportedly been converted into a makeshift ward where the available nurse attends to patients.

The condition of the facility stood in stark contrast to the 80-bed hospital built to provide a modern alternative just a short distance away.

Serving several communities

The significance of the situation becomes clearer when the number of communities relying on the facility is considered.

Findings showed that the General Hospital serves residents from several communities, including Akinlalu, Asipa, Moro, Ipetumodu, Eduabon, Yakoyo and Isope.

Others include Ago-Owu, Araromi-Owu and Apomu in Irewole Local Government Area.

For residents of these communities, the continued closure of the 80-bed hospital represents more than an abandoned government project.

It means that a facility designed to reduce pressure on the existing General Hospital remains unavailable, while the older hospital struggles with crumbling infrastructure, limited staffing and inadequate equipment.

Waiting for government action

For Oyetunmbi, the solution is straightforward: the state government needs to take over the facility fully and make it operational.

“The state government should please bring this facility into operation for Ipetumodu. We shall forever be grateful,” he appealed.

The community is also looking to indigenes occupying positions of authority to intervene.

Akinloye said the people would welcome any immediate action by the government to assume responsibility for the administration and operation of the hospital.

“We will be very happy if the government at least looks at our own side and takes over the administration and operation of the hospital so that it will be of benefit to the community. The place is going to serve a lot of communities,” he said.

The Deputy Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Akinwunmi Ireyode, was also praised by Arayemi for his efforts to get the facility operational.

According to Arayemi, the lawmaker had repeatedly visited the facility and drawn the government’s attention to its condition. However, he said Ireyode could not single-handedly help to commence operations at the hospital.

Osun govt silent

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the state Commissioner for Health, Jola Akintola, were unsuccessful.

Calls to his telephone line went unanswered, while messages sent to him via WhatsApp and text message seeking clarification on the state government’s plans for the facility had not received a response as of the time of filing this report.