University of Calabar Teaching Hospital

The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital came into existence in 1979 following the need for a Tertiary Health Institution that will render Clinical Services at a level that meets the requirements for the training of medical students of the College of Medical Sciences of the University of Calabar, resident Doctors for the different Post Graduates as well as other healthcare providers in different specialties of Medicine and it’s Allied Professions.

The Hospital took over the facilities of the then St. Margaret’s Hospital, Calabar, which was the first Public Hospital in Nigeria, established in 1897. The facilities of the Maternity Annex of St. Margaret’s Hospital were also taken over by the Hospital.

The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital is built on the outstanding reputation of the founding fathers of St. Margaret’s Hospital, who came in from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It is worthy of note that the filarial infection (Loa-loa) was first described as “Calabar Swelling” in the then St. Margaret’s Hospital.

With the rising incidence and resurgence of emerging and re-emerging infections such as HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Filariasis, viral Hemorrhagic fevers, etc, the Hospital established the Institute of Tropical Disease Research, Prevention, and Control. The focus of the Institute is research and evidence-based medicine, in collaboration with The Houston School of Public Health Texas USA, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Cochrane Nigeria. The hospital also houses Cochrane Nigeria, a part of the Cochrane Collaboration.

In 2001, the Hospital commenced its first movement to the permanent site situated at Unical Hotel Road off IBB Way, Calabar. That movement was completed in 2012.

The Hospital also operates a Comprehensive Health Centre at Okoyong located at Ikot Effiong Otop, Odukpani Local Government area, about 45 Kilometers from Calabar. This Health Centre provides Primary and Secondary Health Care services to the people of the Odukpani Local Government Area and neighboring States.