A section of the matriculants holding their white coats
The President of the Family Health University College (FHUC), Prof Enyonam Kwawukume, has said that plans are far advanced to establish a Cardiothoracic Unit (CTU) and a state- of- the-art Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the Family Health Hospital (FHH) at Teshie in Accra.
Speaking during the university’s second matriculation for 33 medical students for the 2016/17 academic year on Tuesday, the president, who is also the founder of the hospital, averred that the opening of both the cardio centre and the ICU later in the year would enable specialist doctors of FHH to perform open-heart surgery, adding that it is a great landmark for a private hospital like FHH in Ghana and the West African sub-region.
Prof. Kwawukume, credited as the first medical practitioner in the world to perform bloodless myomectomy at caesarian section with a tourniquet, further disclosed that FHH had already established a centre for In-Vitro Fertilization or what is popularly referred to as a ‘Test Tube Baby’ Centre.
According to him, the Centre is also the first and only one among the teaching hospitals in the sub-region to be established by a private body.
The president was happy that the introduction of Telemedicine Centre for the FHH was fast yielding positive results among students and staff.
He explained that Telemedicine is a platform which enables a doctor to seek second opinion from seasoned doctors abroad such as the USA, Asia and Europe, for the treatment process of a patient.
“We are happy to mention that the Telemedicine Centre will soon be opened to our mentors in Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital,” he disclosed
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof.Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, expressed disquiet over the fact that Ghana’s doctor-to-patient ratio remains unimaginably unsatisfactory, having a doctor taking care of about 10,450 patients.
The VC appealed to the government to collaborate with the FHUC in training more doctors rather than flying them abroad for such training at a huge cost every year.
Prof. Oduro Owusu lauded the management of FHUC and FHH for what he described as their unquenchable appetite to take great strides in the medical world to help bridge the doctor-to-patient ratio, while ensuring an excellent health delivery system.
“As a young affiliate of the University of Ghana, FHMS has the advantage of seeking growth through the already established wings of her mentor institution,” he remarked.
Prof. Oduro Owusu charged the students to take advantage of the numerous facilities available both in the university and the hospital to graduate as innovative men and women ready to work to the best of their abilities.
By Solomon Ofori