A Nigerian-trained doctor, Seyi Oyesola, co-invented the CompactOR, commonly referred to as the “Hospital in a Box”. This solar-powered operating room can be transported to Africa’s remote areas and set up in mere minutes.
BACKGROUND
Dr. Seyi Oyesola, a Nigerian doctor, was frustrated by hospitals constantly lacking supplies and experiencing power outages. This led him to co-develop the “Hospital in a Box”, a compact, solar-powered mobile hospital.
Though born Babaseyi Oyesola in Nigeria, he is better known as Dr. Seyi Oyesola. He grew up in Cleveland, USA, graduating from high school in 1975. Later, he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Lagos in 1986.
After briefly practicing in Nigeria, Dr. Seyi pursued specialized training in anesthesiology and critical care in the UK and the US.
He returned to Nigeria in 2015, dismayed by the state of community hospitals. Witnessing people perish from easily treatable conditions like trauma and heart attacks, he felt the urge to innovate and improve the nation’s health sector.
Dr. Oyesola worked at the University of Lagos, leading a young team of anesthesiologists. He served as a consultant at the UK’s Medway Maritime Hospital and later joined the University of California, Los Angeles as a visiting Assistant Professor. By 1999, he was a consultant in anaesthesia and critical care for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). He also taught at the Imperial College School of Medicine’s medical simulation centre in 2001.
Currently, Dr. Oyesola is the Chief Medical Director of Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) in Nigeria. Under his leadership, the team achieved the hospital’s first successful kidney transplant in 2014. With over 25 years in anesthesiology and critical care, he’s introduced innovative, high-tech medical equipment and training to African hospitals and visited rural medical facilities.
His crowning achievement was the 2007 co-creation of the CompactOR (“Hospital in a Box”). This portable equipment can provide surgical care throughout Africa, set up in just ten minutes, and comes with all necessary surgical tools. Impressively, it operates via solar power.
Reports indicate the “Hospital in a Box” has been successfully deployed. Its cost, under £50,000 (approximately US $77,350), is a fraction of traditional surgical setups.
Achievements
- Co-authored 8 medical publications.
- Co-developed the CompactOR (“Hospital in a Box”).
- Founded Practice Ventures in 1996 to supply high-tech medical equipment and training to African hospitals.
- Delivered a successful TED Global talk in 2007 on “Hospital in a Box”.
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