KUNLE OMIDIORA, managing director of Alpha Mead Healthcare & Management Services (AMHS) is a versatile healthcare technology professional with degrees in computer science, information technology, business administration, and healthcare management. In this interview with JOSEPHINE OKOJIE, he speaks about the Modular Healthcare Facility and how it could enhance Nigeria’s healthcare delivery. Excerpts:
What is the Modular Healthcare Facility and how can it impact Nigeria’s health sector?
Without ongoing innovations like the MHF, the current healthcare challenges in Nigeria cast doubts on the possibility of the early attainment of universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goal 3. The challenges of Nigeria’s health sector are well documented. From an acute shortage of medical workers; to insufficient medical facilities, and inadequate equipment for the existing facilities to function; Nigeria has a long list of challenges that are inhibiting easy access to quality healthcare.
The implications of these challenges are obvious in the over $1billion Nigeria loses to medical tourism, the perennial brain drain bedevilling our healthcare sector, and the social-economic impact on the general wellbeing of Nigerians and the prosperity of the nation. So, for us at Alpha Mead, the question has always been how can Nigerians have access to quality healthcare they can afford? The MHF is another response to this question and there is more to come.
Our goal is to take quality healthcare services to the doorstep of every Nigerian. So, we designed MHF to break all known barriers to access to healthcare. The first barrier is the number of healthcare facilities we have in Nigeria. Report shows that there is currently one healthcare facility to about 5,000 Nigerians. To bridge this gap, we know that building with brick and mortar will not just be time-consuming and cost-efficient. So, we researched what could help make healthcare accessible within the shortest possible time and found that we can do the same thing with prefabricated portacabins.
An MHF can be set-up and operational within 30 days. All you need is to get the parts of the MHF on a truck, transport them to your preferred location, couple the modules together, and start operations in few days. No need for electricity or other utility, the MHF runs on solar so it can run anywhere, no matter the state or level of the infrastructure.
We also noted that even where the healthcare facilities are available, our nation still has an acute shortage of medical professionals, we know can suddenly increase that overnight, so we sought out how we can leverage technology. Any MHF is equipped with technology that can diagnose and connect a patient with a medical professional anywhere anytime.
From the MHF, a patient can be diagnosed, and the report can be digitally transmitted to a doctor or specialist anywhere in the world. The patient can consult with the specialist via the teleconsultation facility, and with the e-pharmacy system, the patient can pick up their prescribed medication at the closest registered pharmacy.
So, essentially, MHF is what Nigeria needs to accelerate its journey to universal healthcare coverage.
How long was the research and development process?
This project took us over 36 months of serious research and development. From understanding the gap to the required equipment, the kind of frequent medical procedures across different geo-political zones in Nigeria, and of course the environmental and health impact of having certain kinds of medical equipment in a portacabin. We worked with different regulatory bodies to ensure that we are not solving one problem and creating another; and with medical and engineering experts to ensure that the MHF is cost-effective, energy-efficient, and technology-driven.
So this is a product of a well-thought-through process. We wanted to ensure that the MHF is not just a transportable healthcare facility, it is a facility that will bridge the identified gaps in access to healthcare, particularly in the rural areas.
Alpha Mead has invested heavily in the MHF; how do you intend to drive the adoption?
First, for us at Alpha Mead, impact investment is at the heart of our business operations. That’s why we have “We Care”, at the core of our brand. Secondly, we believe that the challenges of healthcare in Nigeria today are obvious to everyone, and all stakeholders have a role to play. We are playing our part as corporate citizens by thinking every day about how to address these challenges. We trust that other members of the value chain will collaborate with us.
We understand the challenges, so we have designed different ways of driving adoption. For example, we intend to work with the government to adopt the MHF to complement facilities at the primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare centres. But we understand the issues around resources allocation, so we have developed different Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models that can work.
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For private healthcare businesses, we have access to different funding options that they can leverage to own an MHF. Besides that, we have options in lease-to-own, joint venture partnership, and other kinds of adoption models. We are also designed working models for NGOs and organisations with initiatives in healthcare, politicians who want to use the MHF as a way of accelerating their constituency project in healthcare delivery to their communities.
What of the maintenance, especially as the MHF comprises expensive cutting-edge technology and equipment?
As I have said earlier, the MHF is a product of a very thorough research and development process. So, that process has exposed us to the possibilities of maintenance issues. As you will know, we have one of Africa’s leading facilities management companies with our consortium. For the records, Alpha Mead Facilities is the first FM company to be certified to international standards of ISO 9001:2015 by United Kingdom Accreditation Services, UKAS. So, from the design stage, we had expert maintenance advice; and that influenced a lot of things, including the type of materials we used in construction.
In terms of equipment maintenance, we have a pool of biomedical engineers working with us. Biomedical engineers are specialists in the maintenance of healthcare infrastructure, and medical equipment, among others. Whatever happens outside the maintenance agreement, we will quickly deploy the biomedical engineer to look at the problem. We will also employ technology because much of the equipment is digitalised, so we can have someone who can remotely connect to that equipment and try to do the first line of troubleshooting.
How affordable is the MHF; are there available financing options?
The facility is affordable; everybody knows that much of this equipment is imported. In terms of purchasing it out rightly, those who do not have all the millions can still acquire the MHF through any of our financing options.
One can start purchasing with as low as N3million monthly, from the numbers we have done, we know that this number is good for business. We have worked out this number to ensure that you will not be using more than 40percent of your income for the installment, giving the business the latitude to take care of other operating costs.
How will the Modular Healthcare Facility open more opportunities for jobs in Nigeria?
We see this in a lot of ways. Once there is an effective demand for a product, it means that the product can scale, and scaling will require an increase in productivity, which means more people.
We all know that there is effective demand for healthcare in Nigeria, so first, we believe as many MHF are deployed, there will be a need for more personnel to man them. Also, we expect to see the ripple effect on adjourning healthcare businesses such as pharmacies, medical consultations, and even petty trading around the MHF locations.
The country’s health indices will also become better because once people have access to quality healthcare, they will become healthier, and we will have more productive adults. So, it is having a 360-degree kind of a thing. People who want to go into business can partner with us and start their businesses.
Do you plan to take the MHF outside Nigeria? If yes, where specifically?
Yes, Alpha Mead has operations in 11 African countries. We plan to move to all these countries. The healthcare challenge we have in Nigeria cuts across Africa. So, we plan to use this to help other Africans in their respective countries.
What was the biggest challenge the company faced in developing the Modular Healthcare Facility? Have there been feedbacks?
The biggest challenge was identifying the right partner to work with. After we put some concepts together, we had to identify partners to help us deliver the MHF the way we have conceived it. But as we have done with other projects where can’t immediately access indigenous expertise, we work with the ones who have demonstrated capabilities. Thankfully, we found a few indigenous partners who are willing to work with us and our international partners. Today, the MHF can be delivered by an indigenous organisation.
We have received feedback in terms of manpower training, scalability, accelerated rollout capacity. But those who know us in Alpha Mead can testify to how detailed we can be before releasing a product to the market. For example, we are also at the final stages of accreditation for our healthcare training. We have one of the biggest FM training centres in Africa, so there are already process, systems, and procedure for healthcare training.
We have also been asked the question of how easy it is to scale the MHF from, for example, MHF-1 to MHF-2, and so on. But that is already thought into the product. All that is required when it’s time to scale is to add as many more modules are the scaling requires and install the appropriate equipment. In terms of roll out, I can confirm that we have developed that capacity. We have thought through the whole value chain and we have a robust system to activate this value chain and roll it out on an impressive scale. Our goal is to someday have a plant where the parts of the MHF are available and we can just couple and deploy. Then we will even be talking about setting up an MHF in 48 to 72hours. MHF is in line with sustainable development policy: upskilling, sustainable development, job creation, and resilient infrastructure. The MHF is an infrastructure that will help strengthen the health system in Nigeria, and we are happy with the feedback.
Besides hospitals healthcare centres or medical facilities, what are the other use cases for the MHF?
The MHF is an answer to a lot of questions when it comes to the deployment and availability of medical services anywhere in Nigeria. It can be used in places such as IDP camps, military bases, construction sites, and emergency response centres, to mention a few. The MHF is a compact healthcare solution that takes quality healthcare to otherwise inaccessible places like these. Its modular nature makes it moveable to other locations as soon as the camp closes or the operation winds down.
