Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has inaugurated and handed over a newly constructed 42-room accommodation facility to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital to provide lodging for relatives and visitors of patients receiving treatment at the hospital.

The facility, funded and constructed by the Borno State Government, is intended to support families who travel from distant parts of the state and neighbouring communities to access medical care at the tertiary health institution.

Speaking during the commissioning, Zulum said the project formed part of his administration’s efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure and make medical care more humane for patients and their families.

The governor said ensuring that relatives of patients had access to decent accommodation was important, particularly for families who could not afford the cost of lodging while attending to loved ones receiving treatment.

UMTH is a major referral hospital serving Borno and other parts of the North-East, despite being a federal institution.

Zulum’s administration has previously provided several forms of support to the hospital, including a N100m intervention for medical consumables and other urgent needs.

The state government also constructed 24 three-bedroom residential units for medical workers at the hospital to ease accommodation challenges and enable health personnel to remain closer to their workplace.

In addition, Zulum approved N1bn to support kidney transplant and maternal healthcare services at UMTH, while the hospital received another N500m intervention following the 2024 flood disaster.

The governor said the state’s support for federal institutions reflected his administration’s policy of assisting facilities whose operations directly affect the welfare of Borno residents.

The intervention extends beyond healthcare, as the state government has also provided infrastructure and housing support at the University of Maiduguri and supplied security agencies with thousands of patrol vehicles to strengthen operations across the state.

Other federal institutions that have benefited from the administration’s interventions include the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Azare; Federal Polytechnic, Monguno; and Federal College of Education, Gwoza, which received take-off grants running into hundreds of millions of naira.

The Chief Medical Director of UMTH, Prof Ahmed Ahidjo, commended the governor for his continued support for the hospital.

Ahidjo said the interventions had contributed significantly to improving the hospital’s capacity to provide healthcare services and creating a better working environment for medical personnel.

The governor was accompanied at the commissioning by the Acting Chief of Staff, Dr Babagana Mallumbe, members of the state executive council, special advisers and other senior government officials.

The commissioning of the facility marks another intervention by the Borno State Government aimed at complementing federal investment in healthcare infrastructure and improving the experience of patients and their families at UMTH.