A NEW ERA OF GERIATRIC CARE: UBTH'S MODERN LIBRARY AND LOUNGE FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS SHOWS HOW PHILANTHROPY IS TRANSFORMING PUBLIC HEALTHCARE AND RESTORING DIGNITY, COMFORT, AND HOPE TO SENIOR CITIZENS

 

THE STUNNING TRANSFORMATION INSIDE UBTH THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT

Hospital wards for elderly patients are notoriously draining environments. Think about looking at the same white walls, same ceiling, same bed, it’ll get to you. Patients get bored, lonely and that boredom can slow down their healing process.

Recognizing that medicine alone isn’t enough to heal an aging body, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital just pulled off a brilliant upgrade without waiting on any government budget. 

On Wednesday, July 1st, 2026, UBTH unveiled something different, a geriatric library and lounge made just for elderly patients. It’s basically a break from clinical routine, it’s a place to breathe. What makes this project stand out isn’t just the architecture, it’s the story behind it. The entire project was funded and gifted to the hospital by the Ahonaruogho family, spearheaded by Prince Richard Oma Ahonaruogho. Instead of throwing a one day memorial for their late patriarch, Pa Jeremiah Olu Oma Ahonaruogho, the family chose to leave something that would actually last. It was their way of saying thank you to the UBTH geriatrics team, who took such good care of him while he was there.

The UBTH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Idia Ize-Iyamu, emphasized the deep clinical value of this lounge, stating ‘‘The facility is more than just a physical space, it reflects our belief that caring for older persons extend beyond medical treatment, it requires an environment that promotes comfort, dignity, relaxation, recreation, social interaction and meaningful engagement’’. When old people are confined to hospital beds with nothing to do, they are at a risk of mental decline. Getting out to the lounge changes that. It gives them a different scene, something to read, someone to talk to, this keeps the mind sharp and speeds up recovery, raising the Bar for West African Healthcare.

At the commissioning, UBTH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Idia Ize-Iyamu, noted that this project seamlessly fits into the institution’s plan as UBTH has been working quietly to make itself as the go to centre for specialized elderly care in Nigeria. 

With high profile figures like Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu and top executives from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in attendance, the hospital is currently pushing an *“Adopt a Ward/Facility Initiative’’* which provides an opportunity for partners to contribute to the renovation, refurbishment and modernization of selected hospital facilities, creating an environment that promotes healing, dignity and excellent in patient care initiative, using Ahonaruogho family’s blueprint to show what happens when people stand out to fix public places.

For elderly patients at UBTH, staring at white walls and ceilings all day is now a thing of the past. The Ahonaruogho family took their grief and turned it into something the whole hospital can hold on to. Pa Jeremiah’s memory isn’t just sitting on a plaque somewhere collecting dust, or trapped in a speech nobody remembers by next week. It’s in the quiet afternoons patients now spend in that lounge. Medicine can treat a body, but it takes something more than a drug to make the elderly feel alive. That’s what this lounge does.

Mayowa Victoria Sunday