The center, fitted with state-of-the-art equipment was made possible after the management of the hospital in an earlier engagement with the media, pleaded with the public to support the establishment of a dialysis center for the treatment of acute illnesses at the hospital.

The family of the late surgeon Dr. George Fredua Agyemang Ofori-Atta, who died in Chicago after battling kidney-related diseases in their quest quest to honour his legacy, donated three dialysis equipment to support the smooth running of the center and its operations after the plea of the hospital got their attention.

The Eastern Regional Hospital, which serves as the number one referral center for all health facilities in the 33 districts since its inception about 80 years ago, has been transferring patients who need dialysis treatment to either the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital or the 37 Military Hospital both in Accra, or the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in the Ashanti Region.

This came with a lot of stress for patients and their families due to the high cost and inconveniences involved.

In an interview with Citi News on the sidelines of the commissioning of the center, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, Dr. Arko Akoto Ampaw, recounting the trauma in seeing patients pass on due to the non-existence of the dialysis center, said the facility, which is now fully operational, has already saved a number of lives.

“When they refer patients from all over the region, most hospitals cannot handle such patients, so these patients come in here and then because we do not have definitive treatment, which is the dialysis machine for them, we also needed to refer them to Accra, especially Korle-bu and 37 military hospitals, and it’s difficult referring them because you know about the no bed syndrome and beyond that, the cost of transporting them, looking for an ambulance for these patients who are not stable and when they get there, there is a queue.”

“In 2020, at the heart of the pandemic, we could not even make the referrals anymore, and then we have to watch some of these patients die. I, in particular, had to sit with one that I know was in the ICU and the care she needed was just dialysis, and that was what informed us that, we needed to take any action to procure the services of the dialysis unit”.

“The impact has been tremendous for me. The most mportant one is the acute cases where somebody’s kidney shuts down for a period and all that person needs is one session, maximum, 3 sessions of dialysis to begin to reverse all the problems the person has had,  and in those sessions, they are able to gain back their functions of the kidney and then they go on to live their lives.”

“Especially amongst pregnant women, who as a result of the pregnancy, develop hypertension which complicates the kidney leading to acute renal failure, these women are put on the machine and we reverse the trend. We can confidently say that we are able to pass the catheter and the lines that allow us to put the patients onto the machine but again, you would notice that, the chronically ill ones who demand regular sessions, this time around, don’t need to be referred all the way, so they save money for transportation and then they are in the comfort of their region.”

“Now we have a flexible schedule which will allow many people to be attended to in the unit. We really have attended to quite some numbers and the impact has been phenomenal”.

Ammishaddai Ofori, the lead consultant for BDA Ghana in an interview with Citi News joined calls from the family of the late Dr. Fredua Ofori-Atta for the establishment of a dialysis center at all regional hospitals to save more lives.

“We at BDAC Foundation, we are very concerned about providing help in the critical care unit so as a foundation our main aim is to help societies that are in dire need of medical intervention, especially in the area of technology. So when we got to know that the Koforidua Regional Hospital was asking for donations for the renal center, we had to come in to assist them with this dialysis machine. We thought that it would be a good idea to partner with the Ofori-Atta family. So as a Foundation we came together with the ofori-Atta family to make the donation more significant, and we were able to donate three dialysis machines, and later continue to help by donating more and also contributing to every other Regional Hospital that will need specific help when it comes to critical care”.

“We have 6 Regional Hospitals that have access to dialysis centers, and the depth of the problem can’t be over-emphasized. If every Regional Hospital in Ghana had a dialysis machine, I think that the number of deaths we have in our country will be significantly reduced and this is something that we can easily do, and so for us to be able to contribute in any way, we are more than happy to support”.