SwiftMed Urgent Care Clinic Opens In Eko Atlantic, Brings 24/7 USA-Style Care To Lagos

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

SwiftMed Urgent Care Clinic, a 24/7 walk-in medical clinic located at Tower A, Eko Pearl, Eko Atlantic City, Victoria Island, Lagos, has officially opened for operation, heralding a new chapter in Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem.

The world-class USA-style urgent care, a division of St. Ives Health & Wellness, operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no prior appointment needed.

 

Speaking at the official commissioning of the Clinic, Dr. Babatunde Okewale, the founder and chairman of St. Ives Hospital Group, said the clinic is in response to various patients’ requests and complaints.

He noted that SwiftMed was inspired by the American-style urgent care model where patients walk into the clinic, see the doctor, and then leave.

“This is the smarter way to get medical care. We have designed this clinic to be a place for 24/7 care without the hospital wait,” said Dr. Okewale.

The healthcare entrepreneur explained that the unique clinic offers walk-in urgent care, rapid malaria treatment, lab tests, X-rays, minor injury/stitch care, and an in-house pharmacy.

With branches in Agbaoku Street, Opebi, Ikeja and Ibara Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State, SwiftMed offers professional, calm, and completely upfront care about every cost before anything happens.

“All fees are quoted and agreed upfront —before treatment begins. Extra costs for tests or scans are explained before proceeding. Specialist referrals include a full cost explanation beforehand. 95% of patients are fully treated on their first visit,” Dr. Okewale stated.

Also commenting, Busola Ajibola, the Acting Chief Executive Officer, St. Ives Hospital Group, said what they want to achieve is to bring healthcare closer to the people, quality healthcare services that are accessible and convenient for people.

She noted that SwiftMed is not for life-threatening illness or injuries.

“We only manage you, and then we can refer you out. We, however, offer home care services, telemedicine, medication delivery, and all that. But the idea behind it is to ensure that people can easily access care,” Ajibola said.

She added: “We are all used to the traditional experience in a hospital where you have to wait a long time before you’re being seen by the doctor. So this breaks all of that. This ensures that you come in, see the doctor, and you leave, not wasting time. The aim is to reduce wait time to ensure that healthcare quality is accessible and responsive.”

Ajibola explained that patients can choose to be treated within the St. Ives Group or be referred to their personal hospitals.

“We can refer patients to their preferred hospitals. We are also partnering with HMOs. So if your HMO has hospitals where they want us to move you to, we have an ambulance service. We stabilize you, and then we refer you to your hospital, which can be done via our ambulance or the HMO’s ambulance. It’s a choice,” she said.

On affordability and accessibility, the St. Ives acting CEO explained that their services are quite affordable and that is more reason they have partnered with several HMOs.

“We’ve also partnered with international insurance companies. Our services are affordable. You only need to come in to understand that it’s not expensive,” Ajibola added.

She noted that SwiftMed has also been designed to be closer to people with multiple clinics in Lagos and Abeokuta.

“We want people to be able to quickly say, ‘Oh, I want to see a doctor. I don’t have two hours to spend in a hospital. I just want to quickly go in and come out.’ That’s why we chose the three strategic locations in Eko Atlantic, Opebi and Abeokuta. And in the nearest future, there will be many more in communities,” she said.

“We also have telemedicine as you don’t have to be seated in a hospital for you to receive care. We can do consultation via telemedicine. We can deliver your medications to you, so you don’t even need to come in. Except otherwise, you have diagnostic services that you’d require. That’s what we’re trying to do: bringing healthcare close to home.”

“We have a pharmacy that is not just for the clinic; it’s also a working pharmacy. You don’t need to be our patient to access the pharmacy and our diagnostic services. So it’s for everyone. You can come in as an outpatient, see a doctor and even as an outpatient, you have your prescription and want to purchase your medication, we are available, and it’s a 24-hour service that we’re running here,” Ajibola said.