The AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine has handed over a $1.2 million, 60-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, NICU, to the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital in the Western Region.
The state-of-the-art facility has specialised new-born and premature care units, a clinic, Kangaroo Mother Care wards, a mothers’ lodge, milk expression facilities, an internal pharmacy, and a modern infection-prevention system.
Speaking at the commissioning, Mr. Daniel Boadi, Managing Director of the Mine, said as the main referral centre for the area, the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital had a major responsibility.
The commissioning was on the theme:on the theme: “Strengthening New-born Care Through Sustainable Partnership.”
Mr Boadi said during a meeting with hospital management, they encountered a sobering reality.
He said: “Your dedicated medical team was treating an average of 80 critically ill and premature new-borns every month out of a single, overcrowded, makeshift room.”
He added: “The clinical expertise was present, but the infrastructure was not available. AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine has changed that story by building this facility to give every newborn fighting for life the best environment to recover.”
He expressed appreciation to Nana Kweku Twum I a traditional leader in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, the NICU Committee members and the contractors whose leadership and dedication turned the vision into reality.
Mr. Boadi thanked doctors, nurses, and midwives for their daily sacrifices, and expressed hope that the facility would help them deliver exceptional care.
He appealed to hospital management and the community to safeguard and maintain the facility with rigor so that it would remain a beacon of hope and healing for generations to come.
Madam Rachel Fosua Sarpong, Regional Coordinating Director, Western Region, said management of the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital and the Ghana Health Service must build a robust maintenance culture.
She stated that preventive maintenance, timely servicing of equipment, and prudent management of resources must become the standard to ensure that the facility continued to deliver healthcare in the years ahead.
“Building a resilient healthcare system is a shared responsibility and government alone cannot meet every healthcare need. Sustainable progress depends on enduring partnerships among government, the private sector, development partners, and citizens,” she said, and commended Iduapriem Mine for setting an example of transformational corporate responsibility.
Dr. Ebo Hammond, the Director of Health Administration and Support Services, Ghana Health Service, said data showed that 15 out of every 1,000 children delivered in the municipality did not survive.
He stressed that the provision of the facility would help curb neonatal deaths in the municipality and improve maternal and child health outcomes.