Oyo govt addressing LAUTECH doctors’ complaints –Commissioner

The Oyo State Government has promised to address the complaints of doctors at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, who have been on half salaries for many months.

This came on the heels of a plea by members of the Association of Resident Doctors, LAUTECH chapter, to Governor Abiola Ajimobi to pay them their full salaries like other health workers in the state.

President of the association, Dr. Sebastine Oiwoh, and the General Secretary, Dr. Ayobami Alabi, made the plea in a statement on Saturday.

According to the statement, members of the association have contributed to human and social development of the state and so deserved their full salaries

The association, which acknowledged that the state had done well by establishing the teaching hospital, however, said it reneged on its promise in the funding of residency training.

But at a briefing on Tuesday, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun, said his health counterpart, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan, had met with the doctors with a view to resolving the issue.

He added that the government had no intention to ignore the doctors because of the essential service they offer to the people.

Arulogun said, “The allocation from the Federal Government is no longer coming in the same way it used to. That is why the state government has embarked on serious income generation drive.

“Our institutions must begin to look inwards. They cannot live on subvention forever because it is not statutory. However, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital is a priority of the government because of the essential nature of the service that the hospital and the doctors render to the public.

“The state commissioner for health met with the doctors on Monday with the view to resolving the issue of half salaries. The government is definitely addressing that issue.”

PUNCH.