Our wonderful partners at MedWish International recently shared a blogpost and request about a Canadian doctor who not too long ago began a project to build a hospital in his home country of Ghana. After seven years of hard work, detailed planning, and haggling over contracts and loans, Dr. Adu-Poku's dream is about to come to fulfillment in the form of the Santasi Hospital in Ghana. The hospital will house 50 beds throughout several wards, two labor and delivery rooms, two operating rooms and a large outpatient area. The hospital will begin with just a 10 person staff and then slowly expand. While he expects to see many patients with malaria, Dr. Adu-Poku also hopes to provide community vaccination and preventive care services throughout the hospital and will include a specific focus on maternal and child health.
Despite the initiation of a national insurance scheme in Ghana, many patients still cannot afford hospital fees. When discussing the fees for service at his own hospital Dr. Adu-Poku stated: “'I will likely do what some of the area Catholic Hospitals do: Have those who can afford it pay for services, and simply take care of those who cannot.'”
Dr. Adu-Poku is now traveling to Ghana to oversee the final construction on his hospital. MedWish International has already sent one shipment of medical supplies and are gearing up to send a second container soon. They are still in need of delivery beds and OR tables so please reach out to them if you know of any donations! We are excited to see how the hospital progresses and learn more about Dr. Adu-Poku's work and will definitely be tuning into the MedWish blog to find out!
“'It’s funny—sometimes when I talk to people at home, they think I’m a dreamer,” he said. “But they thought I was a dreamer seven years ago, and here I am about to open a hospital.'”
Read the full blog post and find out more Dr. Adu-Poku on the MedWish blog: https://www.medwish.org/blog/a-doctors-dream-for-his-community/