The Project Management Team (PMT) of the Ministry of Health has handed over the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) to the management for full operationalisation in a brief ceremony.
CEO of the UGMC, Dr. Darius Osei, said the Centre has three main focal areas namely a 1,000-bed clinical services section, the biggest medical training and simulation centre in West Africa and a Medical and Scientific Research Centre that will serve as a central hub for local and international research.
“I am truly excited that Phase II of the UGMC has been completed in the midst of a pandemic of historic proportions”, he said.
Director of Medical Affairs of the Clinical Services Section of the UGMC, Dr Kwame Anim-Boamah disclosed that this Section of the Centre housed the biggest Intensive Care Unit in Ghana (a 16-bed Intensive Care Unit) as well as the second biggest Cardiothoracic Centre in the country.
He further said the Health Care section of UGMC had engaged a number of consultants, specialists and sub-specialists with expertise in areas such as Sleep Medicine, Sex Dysfunction, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Urology, Endoscopy, Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT, Dental and Ophthalmology for the benefit of the public.
Dr. Boamah said the engagement of more international and local sub-specialists was ongoing.
He also revealed that the Imaging Department of the Centre has an angiography machine, a fluoroscopy machine, an MRI, a CT scan, a mammography machine among others to enable the public access these medical imaging services without delays.
The Director of the UGMC Medical and Scientific Research Centre (MSRC), Dr George Kyei revealed that the focus areas of the MRSC include epidemiology/clinical trials, cardiovascular genetics, maternal foetal medicine, regenerative medicine, transplant medicine, infectious diseases, and big data science.
Dr Kyei stated that “The time is ripe for Ghana and Africa to conduct research using our own people and so the Centre is open to collaborations with industry, non-governmental organizations and top universities around the world to achieve this”.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri