The [Lagos State Government](https://lagosstate.gov.ng/) officially handed over the renovated former CACOVID Centre at Mainland Hospital, Yaba, on Wednesday, turning it into an academic complex for the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM). The conversion aims to widen the training of health professionals and help curb the national shortage of medical staff.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, told the ceremony that the facility will support an increase in the annual intake of health‑care trainees from under 500 to roughly 2,500 over the next four to five years. He warned that brain drain has deepened the shortage, but added that Lagos is now pursuing a "brain‑gain" strategy to attract Nigerians abroad back to the local system.
Key figures disclosed include the addition of 315 laboratory stations, 520 lecture seats and about 169 seminar places to LASUCOM’s existing infrastructure. The expanded space is expected to enable the college to graduate more pharmacists and other health‑care professionals, strengthening the country’s health workforce.
The commissioner also revealed that Lagos is moving toward establishing a standalone University of Medicine and Health Sciences, with the enabling bill already passed by the [Lagos State House of Assembly](https://www.lagoshouseofassembly.gov.ng/).
LASUCOM Provost Prof. Olufemi Idowu welcomed the development, while Deputy Provost Prof. Sunday Soyemi said the new capacity would resolve roughly 30 % of the college’s current space constraints.
Originally built in 2019 as a COVID‑19 isolation centre, the building has been fully renovated and expanded to provide a modern learning environment for future health‑care workers.