The management team of the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan Remo, disclosed on Saturday that 81-year-old Maurice Okpenyong, who was brought to the health facility a few months ago by his children, has become a burden to them.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the Director of Communication of the teaching hospital, Dr Joshua Suleiman, who disclosed this in a statement he issued in Ilishan Remo on Saturday, said Okpenyong was brought to the hospital by his children (a man and a woman), who have since refused to show up since he was discharged in December 2023.
Okpenyong , a native of Obot Akara Local Government , Akwa Ibom state, reportedly had a repeat Suprapublic Cystostomy diagnosis and his medical bill as of December 20, 2023, was N399, 320 which has now increased to N1,279,350.
‘The whereabouts of the patient’s son (Lawrence) and daughter are unknown to the management team of BUTH.
The hospital management team 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.
The patient’s unpaid total bill was N399, 320, when 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 has increased the patient’s total bill to N1,279,350 as of March 20, 2024.
As of the time of this report, the sum of N180,000 only had been paid by the patient or children’ the statement said.
The hospital’s management team, the statement also noted, had taken a decision to make Okpenyong’s case public to make his children surface and take him home since the hospital could no longer guarantee his welfare.
The management team also said the patient has become unruly while 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 statement added-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you