Dr Modupe Elebute-Odunsi is a Consultant Haemato-oncologist celebrated for building the first comprehensive cancer centre and specialist in Nigeria.
Elebute obtained her Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from the College of Medicine, the University of Lagos, in 1986. She finished her postgraduate education in internal Haemato-Oncology at various centres of excellence in London, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, St George’s Hospital and The Royal Marsden. She obtained a prestigious fellowship from the Leukemia Research Fund and obtained a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of London for her outstanding performance.
After 30 years of service and practice in the U.K, Dr Elebute finally decided to return home to Nigeria with her wealth of knowledge and experience. She has since been breaking ground in the nation’s health care sector.
Being the second child out of four kids, she was inspired by her mum and dad, who are Professors of Physiology and Surgery, respectively. She was also motivated to study medicine when her dad took her to visit her grandmother, whose leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes. Since then, she has had the desire to do medicine.
“My father took me to the hospital to visit his mother, who later on, I learnt she had diabetes, and she had her leg amputated as a result,” she said.
“I remember seeing her in a bed by the side of the widow and thinking, when I grow up, I want to be able to look after grandma. I want to make sure I fix her leg. From then on, internally for me, medicine was always something I wanted to do.”
Upon her return to Nigeria, Dr Elebute and her husband took the bold step to set up an ultra-modern specialist hospital, the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos. The facility was named in memory of her mother-in-law, who died of complications of breast cancer in 1999.
The facility was opened to handle the detection and treatment of cancer alongside other specialist conditions.
With a burning passion for giving patients the best of health care, the CEO, Dr Elebute, heads a team of over 40 staff who work with top-notch equipment and whose mantra is, ‘The best possible patient experience. ‘
“The hospital is equipped with the latest technology, including a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator, the most advanced radiotherapy machine available in the world, the first in West Africa and the 5th in the whole of Africa,” she says.
Dr Elebute is motivated and passionate about changing the health care standard in Nigeria and she goes all out to get the best staffing, equipment, and work environment. In her words, everything she does is because “the patient matters.”
“My big hope is for everyone to have access to healthcare. For people to walk into a hospital and trust and know that they will get the right diagnosis and treatment with compassion. The patient is key, If we don’t treat our patients with dignity, if we don’t make sure they know that they matter, then there is a problem. In our business, the patient is at the centre of care. They matter.”
Passionate about giving back, Dr Elebute helped set up the Sickle Cell Club of Lagos while still at medical school. She is also the Patron of Build Africa and a past Trustee of The Walkabout Foundation.
Comments are closed.