For a start, she facilitated the acquisition of the medical equipment that former President John Mahama donated to the hospital as part of his birthday celebration on November 29.

The medical equipment included two modern incubators, two phototherapy machines and four CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines, in response to an appeal from the medical director of the facility.

The former first family also presented 200 packs of water, 20 boxes of tin  tomatoes, 35 boxes of cooking oil, 30 boxes of mackerel tin fish, 100 packs of baby diapers, 200 packs of assorted drinks and 90 pieces of school bags.

The rest are 40 boxes of biscuits, 24 gallons of sanitation bleach, 74 gallons of liquid soap, 150 bags of rice, 50 sacks of sugar and 500 packs of hot meals.

Mrs Mahama said her foundation, the Lordina Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the welfare of the underprivileged in Ghana, particularly orphans, vulnerable children (OVC) and women, had adopted the Children’s Ward of the Shai Osudoku  District Hospital as part of its humanitarian and philanthropic works.

Mrs Mahama told the Daily Graphic in an interview when she accompanied her husband, former President John Dramani Mahama, to visit the hospital to mark his 65th birthday celebration with the staff and patients of the hospital.

Commendation

Mrs Mahama joined her husband and children to distribute school bags and food items to the parents of the babies at the paediatric ward of the hospital.

Former President Mahama commended his wife in particular, and the Lordina Foundation in general for their humanitarian work towards the vulnerable, especially orphans in the country.

As part of the infrastructural development, the Lordina Foundation helped from scratch the construction of the Maternity and Children’s Ward of the Bole District  Hospital which has been operationalised, and has started receiving patients.

The foundation also stocked the Bole Hospital with mobile ultra-scan machine, blood pressure monitors, autoclaves for the Sterilisation room, a vaccine refrigerator, trolleys for the theatre and delivery rooms, baby bassinets, manual vacuum extractors, delivery cesarean sets and oxygen monitors.

Paediatric hospitals

The Lordina Foundation is noted for revamping and refurbishing paediatric hospitals across the country.

It is against this background that Mrs Mahama declared her support for the Shai Osudoku Hospital and said her foundation was committed to assisting in providing the needed equipment to augment existing ones.

The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Kennedy T. C. Brightson, on behalf of the medical staff, expressed appreciation for the support and noted that he was not expecting the delivery of the items so swiftly after his request, when an advance team from the former President visited only two days ago.

The 120-bed hospital was the first of six district hospitals commenced by the Mahama government in selected districts across the country under an initiative to build first-class health facilities in every district to improve access to healthcare.