US army team provides services at 37 Hospital
A 16-member team of medical professionals from the United States (US) army is undertaking a three-week medical exchange programme at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
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The programme, which began last week, is under the auspices of the US government. It aims at providing an avenue for medical staff with the US army to share their experiences with their counterparts in Ghana.
The US team includes surgeons, dentists and certified registered nurses.
Tour
Journalists were last Thursday conducted round the emergency, trauma, and surgical departments, as well as the main theatre and the dental wards of the hospital where the medical personnel are rendering their services.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the 37 Military Hospital, Major Gariba Pabi, led the journalists on the tour of the facility.
During interactions, the US medical personnel said they were impressed with the Ghanaian medical system, in view of the limited health infrastructure.
They said the exchange programme provided an opportunity for them to make useful suggestions to the management of the 37 Military Hospital on how to improve the existing system.
Ghana lauded
The leader of the US team, Captain Robert Wallace, said the team had gained enormous experience from the one-week interaction with their counterparts in Ghana.
He said even though the US had a robust health infrastructure and advanced medical technology, he was pleased with the way medical practice was carried out in Ghana.
“We have experienced a lot here because we have learnt how to improvise when there are no facilities. The military trains its health personnel mainly for deployment in times of need. With the experience we are getting here, we will be in a position to respond to healthcare needs in other contexts,” he added.
Sustainability
While lauding the US government for the medical exchange initiative, Major Gariba said the 37 Military Hospital had benefited immensely from the programme since it started five years ago.
He said apart from the depth of experience the staff of the hospital had gained from the US teams, a number of patients who could not afford the cost of certain services got those services for free during the period of the programme.
“They have a lot of equipment and advanced medical technology, so our people who get the opportunity to partner them are able to update their knowledge and skills,” Major Gariba said.
He said it was important for the collaboration to be sustained so that health delivery could be improved.