It might no longer be new to anyone that health is indeed wealth. It is therefore in place to say that when one has a sound health, one can be of optimum relevance to the society. The promoters of Queen Stella hospital have taken their time to study the Nigerian health system, made their observations and came up with some plans of how to help the government and the general public solve part of the healthcare challenges the country is facing.

Despite large budgetary expenditures in the Nigeria health sector, the health status of most Nigerians is low. The mortality rate for children under 5 years old is estimated at 201 per 1,000 live births; maternal mortality is about 800 per 100,000 live births; total fertility is 5.7 children per woman; there is only an 8 percent prevalence of modern contraceptive methods; adult HIV prevalence is estimated at 3.1 percent; and immunization rates are low, with only 13 percent of 1 year old receiving all of their recommended vaccinations.

Public hospitals are poorly equipped and often experience stockouts of essential supplies and medications, and the cost of treatment is prohibitive. Skilled midwives and birth attendants are scarce. Doctors go on prolonged strikes over poor pay and poor working conditions that paralyze the hospital system, forcing patients to seek other means of health care. These outcomes suggest the health care system is struggling, and service and consumption indicators demonstrate that neither the public- nor private-sector health systems function effectively. Consumers pay a high share of their health expenditures, with 67 percent of such costs being paid out-of-pocket compared to 26 percent by the government and 7 percent by the private sector (private insurance and employers).

Too often consumers forgo treatment or pay unskilled providers for care. For example, no treatment is sought for 31 percent of children with a fever or symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, 20 percent of children with diarrhea receive no treatment, and 66 percent of deliveries occur in the home with only 35 percent of home deliveries attended by a skilled provider.

It may be worthy of note to say that while this behavior is especially true for the poor, unassisted deliveries or deliveries attended by unskilled providers occur in all income groups.
A key determinant of health in general and reproductive health is educational status, particularly for females. Nigeria faces major challenges in this area, with gross enrollment rates for males about 25 percent greater than for females and significant gender gaps in educational attainment and literacy.
Another major problem is that many people in Nigeria cannot afford to buy the common drugs used to combat disease. Faced with this dilemma, Nigerians are compelled to depend on private drug shops and itinerant medicine vendors for the purchase of ethical drugs. Nigeria’s federal government is considering a public-private partnership (PPP) to address the challenges in the health sector. One aspect of the PPP is that technical assistance will be given to all tertiary hospitals to mobilize the private sector in their operating areas to encourage investments through which the hospitals will acquire the optimal equipment, infrastructure, and other facilities necessary for service delivery. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) the federal government initiated is an example of its intent to partner with the private sector. The federal government is contracting health maintenance organizations (HMOs), which in turn contract private providers to offer a basic package of care to federal workers. Given the private health sector’s potential to partner with the government in achieving health outcomes and the increased interest from the Nigerian government in working with the private sector, PSP-One and Banking on Health’s research is timely.
Starting a hospital is one of those businesses that require you to first look at the existing laws in the country or the State you reside, before going all out to start the business. This is so because there is hardly any country that does not pay serious attention on their health sector. The health industry is usually highly regulated to guide against the infiltration of quacks or substandard hospital or health facilities.
We have paid visits to the health and medical regulatory body in Nigeria (the department / ministry of health and medical services) to get all the needed information that is required before one can legally start a hospital business in Nigeria.
No doubt, the healthcare/medical industry of which hospital business is a subset of, is perhaps one of the fastest growing and largest industries in the world; this is so because the wealth of any nation depends on the health of the nation.
Obviously, there is hardly any country where the health care industry is not handled with all seriousness. As a matter of fact, the healthcare industry is known to gulp well over 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of most developed countries.
For instance, the World Health Organization (W.H.O) estimated that there are about 9.2 million physicians, 19.4 million nurses and midwives, 1.9 million dentists and other dentistry personnel, 2.6 million pharmacists and other pharmaceutical personnel, and over 1.3 million community health workers worldwide. This goes to show that the health care industry is indeed one of the largest segments of the workforce of any nation.
It is on record that in 2011, healthcare costs paid to hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, diagnostic laboratories, pharmacies, medical device manufacturers and other players in the health care system business value chain consumed an estimated value of 17.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria; this is indeed one of the largest in the world.
As a matter of fact, experts projected that the healthcare share of the GDP of Nigeria will continue to grow, reaching 10.6 percent of GDP by 2022. The Healthcare cum Hospital industry is indeed a very massive industry in Nigeria. Statistics has it that The Hospital industry in Nigeria, is worth $15bn, in 2018 and estimated to be at $18Bn by 2023, with an estimated growth rate of 3.4 percent.
According to Nigeria Health Facility Registry (HFR), there are about 40,400 registered and licensed hospital businesses in Nigeria, and they are responsible for employing about 116,770 people that comprises of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentist, opticians, surgeons and other health and non – health workers.