The House of Representatives has assured relevant stakeholders in the healthcare sector of the country of willingness to amend the Federal Medical Centers Act 2002 and to give accelerated passage to the sixteen bills seeking to establish new federal tertiary health institutions across the federation.

Speaker of the house, Tajudeen Abbas gave the assurance in Abuja at a public hearing on 16 bills aimed at establishing one health institution or the other in each state of the federation organised by the House Committee on Health Institutions.

Declaring the hearing open, the Speaker who was represented by Hon.Martins Oke said that the House is committed to making good laws for peace, progress and good governance of Nigeria.
Chairman of the House Committee on Health Institutions, Amos Magaji expressed concern that migration of health workers from Nigeria to other countries in search of greener pastures poses significant challenges to the nation’s health care system.
Hon. Magaji said, as a result of the growing population, there is a need for reference hospitals closer to the people, particularly in rural and suburban areas.

Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate who also attended the hearing, said the ministry has no objection to the proposed establishments if they are based on merit.
Prof. Pate who was represented by Director in the Ministry, Dr. Jimoh Salahudeen, maintained the government's resolve to reduce cost in governance warning that it will be counter productive to establish already existing institutions.

On his part, the president of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Bala Mohammad who was represented by Benjamin Oluwatosin while commending the sponsors of the bills for their foresight, made suggestions on the best way to strengthen existing health facilities in accordance with global best practices.

The proposed health Institutions include Federal Medical Centre Epe Lagos State, Federal Medical Center Mallam Madori Jigawa State, Federal Medical Centre Isi Ala Ngwa Abia State, Federal Medical Centre Afam Rivers State and the Federal Medical Centre Itigidi Cross River State amongst others.