The federal government has approved a take-off establishment of 1,200 personnel for the Federal University of Technology Akure Teaching Hospital (FUTATH), marking a major milestone in the transition of the institution into a full-fledged federal teaching hospital.
The chief medical director of the hospital, Prof. Olusegun Ojo, disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing in Akure, the Ondo State capital de, where he also announced that the hospital was working towards placing the approved workers on the federal government payroll by the end of August.
Ojo explained that the approval followed months of screening and verification of workers of the former University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed during the hospital’s takeover by the Federal Government.
According to him, a 10-member panel drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General conducted the verification exercise between December 8 and 12, 2025, assessing workers’ qualifications, biodata and suitability for appointment into the federal civil service.
He said the recommendations of the panel were subsequently reviewed by the Office of Organisation Design and Development before the take-off establishment of 1,200 workers was approved and forwarded to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for enrolment and salary processing.
The CMD said more than 800 workers were captured during the first phase of the IPPIS enrolment exercise held in June, while a mop-up exercise was conducted in Abuja on July 9 for those who missed the initial exercise due to communication challenges and other issues.
”I had hoped that everyone would be captured during the June exercise so salaries could commence by the end of July. Unfortunately, that was not possible because many staff still required capture. Now that the mop-up has been completed, we are working towards commencing payment by the end of August,” Ojo said.
He added that the management was reconciling records with IPPIS to ensure all approved workers were captured before payroll processing, noting that the Ondo State Government had continued to bear the burden of salary payments pending the hospital’s full transition to the Federal Government payroll.
Speaking on the recent protests by some workers and labour unions, Ojo attributed the development to misinformation over the provisions of the MoU, stressing that the agreement never guaranteed automatic absorption of every existing worker into the federal establishment.
”The MoU clearly states that only those found suitable would be selected. That is exactly what we have done with diligence and fairness. Some people were wrongly informed that everyone would automatically be absorbed into the new hospital, and that is completely untrue,” he said.
The CMD condemned the disruption of hospital activities during the protests, saying hospitals should remain peaceful environments because of the critical services they provide to patients.
”It is disappointing that educated people would disrupt the peace of a hospital. If there are concerns about the leadership, there are established channels for addressing them. Hospitals care for cancer patients, people with severe infections and patients awaiting surgery,” he added.
Ojo also disclosed that the hospital had received complaints of alleged job racketeering involving fake employment letters issued before he assumed office, adding that management was compiling evidence and would petition the appropriate authorities where necessary.
He said although the approved staff strength of 1,200 remained below the hospital’s long-term manpower needs, the institution had already attracted experienced doctors, surgeons and nurses from other teaching hospitals to strengthen clinical services, while efforts were ongoing to secure the hospital’s take-off grant, procure critical medical equipment and implement a five-year development plan for the hospital permanent site.