Nigerian oil company to build world-class medical service and research city

Thompson & Grace Investments, a Nigerian oilfield services company, is preparing to build a world-class medical service and research city in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, based on a master plan created by graduate landscape architecture students at Texas A&M University.


This was contained in a statement posted on the university's official website.

According to the statement, the projects are in an effort to raise health care standards in Nigeria, which ranks seventh-highest in infant mortality among the world’s nations.

"Students will give the plan for Thompson & Grace Medical City to company executives during an invitation-only event beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 in the Technical Reference Center, located on the second floor of the Langford Architecture Center’s Building A on the Texas A&M campus. The presentation will feature short talks by representatives from the Nigerian government, Texas A&M dignitaries, Thompson & Grace executives and representatives from global financial institutions," the university said.

Already, Thompson & Grace has contracted with Dallas-based HKS Inc., to begin realizing the student’s plan by designing the medical city hospitals.

"The investment company is launching the project to address Nigeria’s severely inadequate health services, shortage of qualified health professionals and absence of a medical research infrastructure. In addition to its high infant mortality rate, life expectancy in Nigeria is 52 years, 17^th lowest among the world’s nations, according to the World Bank," it said.

The master plan for the 100-acre city, developed by graduate landscape architecture students Xue Li, Sinan Zhong, and Wenyan Ji and led by Chanam Lee, associate professor of landscape architecture, includes an 800-bed hospital, 200-bed children’s hospital, medical school and research institute.

It also includes buildings for office and residential use, an elementary school, an artisan village and conference center. Thompson & Grace is including these facilities in the project as to help develop Uyo’s economic and social infrastructure.

The partnership between Thompson & Grace and Texas A&M was initiated by Macharia Waruingi, a faculty research fellow at the university’s Center for Health Systems & Design and head of the Ustawi Research Institute, which advances the creation of products for health and human development with a focus on emerging economies and developing nations in Africa.

“We want to reach all the people with this facility,” said Waruingi, adding that Thompson and Grace aim to have the hospitals operating by 2017.