Patient abandoned by children in hospital goes unruly, messes up ward with urine

 

The management of Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, is seeking to locate the relatives of one of its patients, Mr. Maurice Okpenyong, who has gone unruly and “urinates on the floor and the whole place smells” after being abandoned at its medical facilities.

Okpenyong was, according to the management, 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 management of BUTH.

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 total bill was N399,320 at the time that his discharge was first signed on December 20, 2023. But the refusal of his children to come forward to take him home, and his continued stay and upkeep in the hospital have increased the patient’s total bill to N1,279,350 as of March 20, 2024.

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

The BUTH said its decision to make it public was to ensure that the patient’s family comes 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 said.

Okpenyong is a native of Obot Akara Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom and he came in with Repeat Suprapublic Cystostomy diagnosis.