On Monday, the Federal Medical Centre in Owo denied a media report that the facility had been shut down as a result of the resident physicians' strike.
Comrade Omoniyi Olajide, Chairman of the United Health Workers Association, FMC Owo, disputed the allegation and claimed it was an intentional effort to deceive the public.
According to him, “the FMC, Owo is not closed; it’s only Resident Doctors that decided to go on strike citing stress”
Olajide said: “Apart from 85 Resident Doctors in the hospital, there were 71 Consultants in various fields of medicine, two Youth Corps Doctors, 21 House Officers and seven Locum Doctors”
“I believe that the situation in FMC, Owo is not the worst in the country. It’s rather unfortunate that the Resident Doctors in Owo have decided to portray the hospital in a bad light. There are many good things going on in the hospital to showcase rather than destroying the image of the hospital”
Olajide remarked that the demands of the resident doctors were not exclusive to the FMC Owo and that the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, was frantically trying to find a solution.
He urged the striking resident doctors to end their walkout because the federal ministry of health had already taken an interest in the situation.