Rebecca Akufo-Addo (fourth right) in an inspection tour of PICU together with guests.
Sick children referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) for medical attention will now have access to improved healthcare following the opening of the new Paediatric and Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
The unit, constructed under the patronage of The Rebecca Foundation, replaces the old children’s emergency ward, which has not seen renovation since its construction in the 1960s despite receiving between 30,000 and 6,000 patients per annum.
Named after Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the PICU consists of a 21-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a 20-bed paediatric intensive care unit, a clinical laboratory, clinical pharmacy and office, a main reception, staff training, meeting and changing rooms – all fitted with disability-friendly toilet and bathing facilities.
Delivering her keynote address at the commissioning of the facility, Mrs Akufo-Addo, founder and chief patron of The Rebecca Foundation, said the project was in fulfilment of a promise she made following an appeal made by the Child Health Department in 2017.
“After extensive discussions with the management of Korle-Bu, we learnt that in all its 96 years, Korle-Bu has never had a paediatric intensive care unit. We knew then that we had to give them one, but we decided to go further and build a facility that also has a neonatal intensive care unit and a high dependency unit,” she said.
The interior of the PICU
“Work earnestly began and today it’s my joy and the joy of the hospital to commission this fully equipped modern facility for our children,” she added.
Mrs Akufo-Addo said it was important to reflect on the state of the country’s health facilities.
She called for detailed planning that would determine resources needed to provide the quality healthcare to citizens.
For his part, Minister of Health Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said survival of children under five is an issue that engages the attention of government and the international development organizations in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal 3.
He was excited that with the provision of such a facility, quality paediatric care would not be interrupted at any given time.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBTH, Dr. Daniel Asare, said in the next couple of weeks, the hospital would roll out a paperless patient and facility management system.
“The standard of this Paediatric Intensive Care Unit is world-class and is comparable to any PICU anywhere in the world. In order not to downgrade the standard by maintaining the manual records management system, we have decided to introduce the new paperless medical records system in this facility,” he stated.
He also assured the First Lady that the hospital would ensure that the facility is maintained properly.
“As part of this scheme, we have mapped out planned preventive maintenance programme to ensure that the building and the facilities are kept in good working condition,” Dr. Asare said.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ledzokuku Constituency, Dr. Bernard Oko Boye, thanked Mrs Akufo-Addo and The Rebecca Foundation for responding to their appeal with such urgency, stating that the naming of the ultra-modern PICU after the First Lady of the Republic was in recognition of the many lives she has saved, as well as her dedication to meeting the health needs of children and mothers.
The commissioning of the new PICU facility was graced by Chief of Staff, Frema Opare; Member of the Council of State, Nii Agyiri Blankson; Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu; Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea, as well as some leading Ga traditional rulers, among others.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri