The University College Hospital, Ibadan was established by an act of parliament in November 1952 in 5response to the need for the training of medical personnel and other healthcare professionals for the country and the West African Sub-Region. The establishment of the Hospital was sequel to a Visitation Panel in 1951 to assess the clinical facilities for the clinical postings of medical students registered for M.B.B.S. degree of the University of London. The visitation panel, led by Dr T.F. Hunt of the University of London rejected the enhanced facilities provided by the Government/Native Authority Hospital at Adeoyo, Ibadan following the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine in the University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) in 1948.

The University College hospital (UCH) is strategically located in Ibadan, then the largest city in West Africa which is also the seat of the first University in Nigeria. The physical development of the Hospital commenced in 1953 in its present site and was formally commissioned after completion on 20th November 1957. The University College Hospital , Ibadan was initially commissioned with 500 bed spaces but presently the Hospital has 850 bed spaces and 163 examination couches, The current bed occupancy ranges from 55-60%

The Hospital, at inception in 1948, prior to the Act of parliament, had two clinical Departments (Medicine and Surgery). However, the Hospital has evolved to accommodate about 60 Departments (See Appendix A) among which is the first Department of Nuclear Medicine in Nigeria commissioned by the Honourable Minister of health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo on 27th April 2006. The Hospital and the University of Ibadan, function in excellent symbiosis and it is impossible to think of one without the other, in the areas of health manpower training,  research and clinical service. This functional interdependence was emphasized from inception through the appointment of the Chairman of the Provisional Council of the University College, (now University of Ibadan as the first Chairman of the Board of Management of the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

In addition to undergraduate medical programme (Based in the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan), the UCH also provides for: Postgraduate Residency Training  Programmes in all specialties of Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesia, Laboratory Medicine, Psychiatry, Community Medicine, General Medical Practice, Radiology, Radiotherapy and Dentistry. The University College Hospital also provides diploma /professional programmes in the School of Health Records & Statistics, Environmental Health Officers Tutors Course; Primary Health tutors Course, Nurse/Midwife/Public Health Nurse, Nurse Tutors Course, Post registration Courses in nursing e.g.  Peri Operative nursing and Occupational Health Nursing. Also, the Hospital has in-house continous education programmes for Nurses and Midwives in Administration and management (CEPNAM), as well as Plaster Room technician programme.

The hospital is primarily an ideal tertiary institution but it has appendages of community based outreach activities at Igbo Ora, Abedo, Okuku, Sepeteri, Elesu, Jago where the Hospital offers secondary and primary health care. The Hospital has 56 service and clinical departments and runs 96 consultative out-patient clinics a week in 50 specialty and Sub specialty disciplines. In addition to the College of Medicine, the Hospital “houses” a virus Research laboratory, a W.H.O Collaborating Centre in Immunology and an Institute of Advanced Medical Research and Training.(IAMRAT). The Hospital also houses the Special treatment Clinic (STC), a state-of-the-art clinic for research, training and treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and runs clinics for people living with HIV/AIDS. Accreditation has been given for the setting up of a department of nuclear medicine whilst approval has also been given by the federal Ministry of Health for the establishment of an institute of Neurosciences. Satellite Pharmacies are provided on each specialty floor for easy access for the procurement of drugs for patients on admission. A pain clinic and a Hospice service are also on place for the care of terminally ill patients.

The hospital has trained (since its inception) 6,051 Doctors, 501 Dentists, 4,513 Nurses, 2307 Midwives, 471 Peri-Operative nurses, 1062 Laboratory Scientist, 576 Environmental Health officers Tutors, 451 nurse/midwives/Public health educators, 326 Primary Health Care Tutors, 590 Community Health Officers, 640 Physiotherapists, 551 Health information Management Personnel (formally referred to as Medical Records Officers) and 1394 resident Doctors. The patients turn out in the accident and emergency (A & E) Department of the University College Hospital averages 6000 annually and about 150,000 new cases are attended to go through the various clinics every year. In 2001, the million clientele mark was attained. Due to the aforementioned facilities, manpower and track records, the Hospital enjoy wide patronage of both natural and international clientele.

The management of the hospital spurred by the Federal Government efforts in refurbishing the teaching hospital has taken steps to widen the scope of services provided by the resuscitation of the open heart surgical procedure of the Hospital. The performance of this procedure was stopped in the Hospital due to effect of brain drain and lack of functional equipment. With the refurbishment under the FGN/VAMED arrangement, the Hospital has commenced sending its medical personnel for update training courses in open heart surgery. In May 2006, a surgical team successfully performed open heart surgery on three paediatric patients in the Hospital.

The governance structure which consists of the board Management and management team of the University College Hospital, Ibadan was established by an Act of Parliament No 26 in 1952, with powers to formulate policies and provide supervisory control on the day-to-day admission of the Hospital. The act was amended by the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards) Act No. 74 of 1979 which, six years later, was succeeded by the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards, etc.) Decree 10 of 1985 which is deemed to have come into operation on 1st of January, 1985.

Section 7 of the 1985 decree gives the Board wide powers “to do anything which, in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the carrying out of its functions” and these include the duty to construct, equip, maintain and operate appropriate facilities for the instruction of medical students. Section 19 of the same decree interprets a medical student as a person whose course of instruction is designed not only to enable him qualify as a medical practitioner but which is also “designed for further training of medical practitioners.” In the pursuit of this statutory duty that the University College Hospital, Ibadan Board of Management had since 1977, formally established a Residency Training Programme and determined the ground rules for its operations. In determining the rules and regulations governing the administration of the programme, the Board consulted widely with professional associations, postgraduate examining bodies nationally and internationally from groups and individuals and the Departments of Hospital Services in the Federal Ministry of Health, in order to ensure excellence in programme content and effective implementation.

Organogram of the University College Hospital, Ibadan has a governance and management structure which divides the departments into clinical and non-clinical. It also has a hierarchical structure which has at its apex the Federal Ministry of Health, followed by the Board of Management, then the Chief Medical Director. The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee and the Director of Administration at par in that order. The evolution of various departments in the University College Hospital, Ibadan, in line with global trend in the Health Industry, has led to proliferation of directorates that now assist the Director of Administration and the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee as outlined in the University College Hospital, Ibadan organogram.

The University College Hospital, Ibadan was the first institution in Nigeria to produce sterile products use for her patients. The production of infusions including intravenous fluids (i.e. normal saline, 5% dextrose, Hartman’s solution, dialyzing fluids-which were packaged in plasmosan bottles, smaller injections like Morphine sulphate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium chloride- which were filled in empty streptomycin and penicillin bottles), eye drops, nasal drops dates back to1952 as stated in the 1953 handing over note of Mr. M. Ritchie who pioneered the pharmacy department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Mr. M. Ritchie, a Briton was in charge of the then Western region and was working at the Adeoyo hospital.  Mr. F. A. Callisto OFR, A Nigerian was the first superintendent pharmacist to be enjoyed from England to head the pharmacy department of the newly established University College Hospital, Ibadan.

With advancement in technology, the use of bottles, rubber bungs and aluminum caps for the productions of large volume infusions could not be continued. However, the production of small volume infusions/injections e.g. sodium bicarbonate, potassium chloride, magnesium sulphate nasal drops have continued to date and this is unique to the University College Hospital, Ibadan pharmacy department. With the advent of the Public Private Partnership initiatives of the Federal Government, the hospital is now in the process of producing large volume of infusions e.g. normal saline using the latest technology of form-fill-seal technique using polypropylene materials.

In the 1960’s the work on cell cultures commenced in the World Health Organization centre for Immunology at the University College Hospital, Ibadan by  an expatriate  but this was handed over to late Prof Osunkoya who later handed this project to late Prof Williams and later at his retirement the late Prof Salimonu took over. However, cell culture research stopped in 1981 because of lack of reagents and the poor financing of the health sector

In the late 1970s’, the University College Hospital pioneered out open heart surgeries in Nigeria. More recently with the refurbishment of the operating theatres and the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, the UCH reactivated open heart surgery with performance of 3 open heart surgeries successfully with assistance from their colleagues in the United States of America. Three decades of medical research 1948-1980 published in 1984 listed 24,0006 Scientific papers done from research activities at University College Hospital. Most of these papers were published in both local and international learned journals and were landmark discoveries the papers covered various aspects of medicine ranging from medical subject e.g. Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology etc., to Clinical subjects such as Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics etc. U.C.H.

Since 1994, U.C.H. has been performing the transurethral dissection of the Prostrate (TURP) and in 2005 organized the first national training  workshop for all relevant cadres. Between 1995 and 1996, the University College Hospital has successfully carried out Charnley hip replacement and Johnson and Johnson knee arthroplasties. The University College hospital acquired 2 adult arthroscopes 2 years ago and to date 12 knee arthroscopic surgeries have been carried out successfully. Prof. Temitayo Shokunbi of the ‘nail in the head’ fame also successfully commenced neuroendoscopic procedures in children with brain lesions

The newly established nuclear medicine department, the first ever in the country has commenced bone scanning services using radioactive pharmaceuticals. This service is available both for medical and oncological diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic medical endoscopy of both upper and lower gastrointestinal tract have been done at the UCH. Since the 1980’s the newly refurbished endoscopy unit has broadened the scope with services that now include fibre optic endoscopy of the oesophagus.