AfriKids Medical Centre on expansion drive

The AfriKids Medical Centre, based at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, has expanded its infrasture in a bid to improve upon its services to the public.

With a tripartite partnership of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), AfriKids Ghana, and the Southampton University Hospital Trust (GHAS), the GH¢339,000-expanded project would provide innovative training to staff with modern equipment for the delivery of quality health services to clients.

At a brief ceremony to handover the keys of the expanded project to the management of the medical centre, the Acting Director of AfriKids Ghana and Head of IT, Mr. Sebastian Ayaaba, said AfriKids was a partnership between a UK charity, AfriKids UK and a Ghanaian non-governmental organisation, AfriKids Ghana.

He said the shared philosophy of the two bodies was simply to listen to what a community needs, empower them to make the necessary changes themselves, and ensure absolute sustainability of the changes.

This, Afrikids lives and breathes, and runs through every aspect of its operations.

Mr. Ayaaba was hopeful that the medical centre would continue to form a key part in the twin organisations' strive to ensure the huge gap in access to quality healthcare in the Upper East Region is reduced significantly.

The Acting Director stated that the centre was now part of an elaborate scheme to make AfriKids Ghana selfsustainable come the next eight years, by which time the management intends to close its fundraising office in the UK.

According to him, the medical centre would continue to deliver top quality medical care facility to its clients in the Bolgatanga Municipality and beyond, adding that all the profits would be channeled back into the child rights work, helping to take AfriKids Ghana towards its goal of complete financial independence in 2018.

Mr. Ayaaba thanked Mr. Nick Eastcott, a retired Health Care Manager from the UK, who has devoted his time, over the years, helping the centre improve, as well as the Regional Director of Health Service and his staff for their immense support.

The Administrator of AfriKids Medical Centre, Mr. Ibrahim Issah, said the increasing number of out-patients at the centre over the years had necessitated the expansion works, revealing that since AfriKids took over the centre from its original owners in 2007, over 40,600 cleints had received healthcare from the centre.

He mentioned that the expanded structure would house a children's ward, and females' surgical ward, administration, consulting room(s) and X-ray unit.

Mr. Ayaaba said the centre received its accreditation as a primary hospital in June 2009, when it met the requirements of a primary hospital, including having the number of beds between 30 and 50.

Incredibly, the number of beds has shot up to 50, as a result of the expansion works.

He disclosed that three resident doctors would be posted to the centre by November this year, while the number of nurses would also increase from the present 12 to 21. Nine volunteers, who are expected to come from South Afric, would include three midwives.

It is the dream of management that the centre becomes a specialist surgical centre in the Upper East Region and beyond.

Meanwhile, from January next year, the centre would provide 24-hour services, and also offer special services for children.

Pix: (top) Mr Sebastian Ayaaba, Ag. Director of AfriKids Ghana, handing over the keys of the expansion part of the AfriKids Medical Centre