The Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Prof. Darlington Obaseki, has narrated how the hospital has lost N184 million to patients who accessed treatment at the facility but were unable to pay the bill.
Darlington disclosed this while speaking with journalists ahead of the 50th anniversary of the hospital.
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“In 2021, we gave medical care to the tune of N84 million that was waived. It is more than that presently. I am sure, this year, we have waived about N100m. Majority of patients in Benin access services here and our staff are overburden yet people are not paying,”
“our people cannot afford so many things. Our emergency services are not dependent on patients paying. So, we start treatment whether you have money or not. But so many persons abuse this as we spend all our resources managing them.”
Obaseki explained that the complaints about UBTH is not about the quality of healthcare service they get but about the cost of treatment.
“So, the problem we have now is that our people are poor and we cannot run away from that. “We want to have major structures and equipment. We want to focus on cardiovascular and comprehensive cancer care. Cancer is the silent epidemic in Nigeria. The inconvenience families face is unimaginable” he said.
