The St. Theresa’s Hospital in Nandom has taken delivery of items valued at a little over GH₵10,000.00. The items were donated to the Hospital by the Nandom Advocacy Group (NAG) of United States of America to support the fight against COVID-19.
The items included 250 pieces of face masks (4 boxes), 10 Veronica buckets with stands, 4 pieces of infrared non-contact thermometers, 2,000 pieces of surgical gloves (4 boxes), 5 containers of surface disinfectants for cleaning, and seven (7) pieces of digital thermometers.
GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo reports that this is not the first time the group is reaching out to the Hospital. Last year, it donated medical equipment worth GH₵25,000.00 to the facility.
The Former President of Nandom Advocacy Group-United States of America, Dr. Francis Xavier Dery Tuokuu who presented the items on behalf of NAG indicated that he is happy that his group is partnering with the Hospital to fight COVID-19.
He stated: “As we all know, we are in challenging times which requires that we all come together to fight this deadly enemy, which is the Coronavirus. The virus has put fear in people all over the world. It has not only stalled economic activities, but it has stretched health systems beyond limits, even in very developed economies. It is against this background that the Nandom Advocacy Group, USA is presenting these items as our widow’s mite to support in the fight against this deadly virus.”
“The [Nandom Advocacy] Group is non-political and is made up of sons and daughters of the Nandom Area resident in the United States of America. The Group was formed four years ago to support members in time of need and also to contribute to the total development of the Nandom Area.”
The Nandom Area comprises all surrounding communities linked to Nandom culturally, socially, and economically. Dr. Tuokuu used the occasion to commend the staff of the hospital for working hard “and risking their lives daily to keep all of us healthy and strong”.
The Medical Superintendent of the St. Theresa’s Hospital, Dr. David Adobasom Aduwia observed that the COVID-19 pandemic is stretching health facilities across the country in terms of medical consumables and expressed profound appreciation to the Nandom Advocacy Group for supporting the facility.
Dr Aduwia touched on logistical challenges, saying “logistics at a point became a problem”.
He however added that the Hospital has received a lot of support from individuals and corporate bodies as well as from government [the Regional Health Directorate].
The Medical Superintendent pointed out that the Nandom Advocacy Group is one of the groups that had extended a hand of support to the facility with some logistics, especially with the gloves, Veronica buckets, PPE.
“The consumption rate has increased because of the period that we are in. Everybody needs to be very careful and so any procedure that will demand contact with a client, we want to take maximum precaution and so you see that the gloves that we will usually will not wear for certain procedures, now we do [wear them] and so the consumption rate has become very high”, Dr Aduwia affirmed.
The Municipal Director of Health Services (MDHS), Ms. Genevieve Yiripare was equally very grateful to the Nandom Advocacy Group for coming to the aid of the Hospital at this critical moment and entreated others to emulate the example.
Among the dignitaries at the presentation ceremony were the Country [Ghana] Representative of NAG-USA, Lee John Felix and the Administrator of the St. Theresa’s Hospital in Nandom, John Mikado and Solomon Dery of Azumah Resources Limited who is a friend of Nandom Advocacy Group-USA.
