Management Decries Relatives’ Abandoning of Patients in BUTH 

The management of Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) has launched a search party for the children of one of its patients, Mr. Maurice Okpenyong, who has been abandoned at the medical facility.

The management said Okpenyong was brought to the hospital by his children (a man and a woman), who have now disappeared and refused to come to take him home after BUTH signed his discharge in December 2023. The whereabouts of the patient’s son (Lawrence) and daughter are unknown to the BUTH management.

The management of the hospital said it had teamed up with the Police in Ilishan, Area F, and Bariga to look for his son at both his official residence and private address without success.

Meanwhile, the hospital’s management said the patient’s unpaid bill was N399,320 when his discharge was first signed on December 20, 2023. However, his children’s refusal to come forward to pick him up and his continued stay and upkeep in the hospital has increased the patient’s total bill to N1,279,350 as of March 20, 2024.  

As of the time of this report, only N180,000 had been paid by the patient or children. 

The hospital’s management said its decision to make the information public was to ensure that the patient’s family came to take him home, as the hospital could no longer guarantee his welfare.

In addition, the management said the patient had not only become unruly but also abusive, even as the hospital continues to cater for his upkeep and well-being.

“Sometimes, he removes his urine bag and urinates on the floor, and the whole place smells. This is why we have placed him on watch because we are afraid that he may abscond,” the hospital management said. “Okpenyong is a native of Obot Akara Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom and he came in with Repeat Suprapublic Cystostomy diagnosis.”