Taiwo Bankole
The Director of Communication, Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan Remo, Dr Joshua Suleiman, has revealed that the health facility has launched a search for the children of 81-year-old Mr Maurice Okpenyong, a patient abandoned since December 2023.
In a statement issued by the medical facility on Saturday, Suleiman noted that the elderly patient was brought to the hospital by his children (a man and a woman), who has now refused to come to take him home after the hospital signed his discharge in December 2023.
Okpenyong, who is a native of Obot Akara Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, reportedly came in with a Repeat Suprapublic Cystostomy diagnosis.
It was stated that the medical bill of the patient as of December 20, 2023, when he was discharged was N399, 320 but his continuous stay in the hospital has raised the bills to N1,279,350.
“The whereabouts of the patient’s son (Lawrence) and daughter are unknown to the management of BUTH.
“The hospital management 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 partly read.
The hospital management explained that its decision to make Okpenyong’s case public was to ensure that his family members come to take him home as it could no longer guarantee his welfare.
It was also stated that Okpenyong had become unruly and abusive, despite the hospital bearing the brunt of his upkeep and well-being.
The hospital added, “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.”
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