A Call for Help

Work at the hospital has been going smoothly. However, we are sitting on a time bomb. I have been learning about the financial status of the hospital and discussing with the general manager (CEO) about  matters affecting the state of the facility. Please see the report below.

BACKGROUND
Based on current statistics, we have seen over 26,000 patients at our 81 bed hospital since the beginning of the year. Approximately, 2,000 of the patients seen so far didn’t have insurance. This means that majority of the patients were insured.  Health insurance is managed by the Ghana central government. For less than $10, a person can be insured for a year within the National Health Insurance scheme (NHIS). Unfortunately, reimbursement of insurance claims is not forthcoming. About a month and half ago (June 2016), the hospital was reimbursed for September 2015’s claims. It’s a miracle that the hospital still exists and can help care for the large amount of people who need its services. Did I mention that this hospital is also a referral center/facility? A referral hospital is supposed to be well resourced and equipped to take care of advanced cases that cannot be managed at community centers and clinics. Due to this, our beds are always full yet, funding for the daily management of the hospital has become a very huge challenge due to lack of claims reimbursement.
The central government used to pay utility bills of government supported hospitals. However, the current government stopped paying the bills and it has been piling up for over a year. So, the electric company is now expecting us to pay over $25,000 in electricity bills due to large arrears. In addition, unreliable electricity supply is negatively affecting the daily management of the hospital. We have to purchase large amounts of fuel to power generators so that emergency surgeries can be performed, ensure functioning of the labs and provide a power source for patients and staff at night. In short, the hospital is drowning due to financial constraints and lack of adequate funding.

CURRENT NEED
We are looking for support. Any gift, cash or kind, will be greatly appreciated. We are strongly considering solar as a form of energy source for the hospital. This will greatly reduce our dependence on purchased commercial electricity. Advances in solar technology will make it possible for us to get completely off the electrical grid. Based on current trends and data, it will cost about $60,000 to set up solar system powerful enough to eliminate our dependence on purchased electricity. This will save us about $25,000, annually, in electricity cost. 
We are also looking for partners in the States and elsewhere who will be interested in bringing students (medical, nursing, dental, allied health etc.) for educational opportunities in tropical medicine and health.  There is also a huge need for dental health here. Unfortunately, we do not have a dentist or dental hygienist. We are seeking partners who will be interested in helping us set up a dental clinic and also train nurses and other qualified personnel in dental health.

HOW TO HELP
Please contact me at eotsin25@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out in any way. In addition, you can pray for us. We need a miracle to keep our doors open because the electric company has been threatening to disconnect our lines. Moreover, scarce funding is making it almost impossible to manage affairs at the hospital.
Please spread the word in church, Facebook (please copy and paste “anidasowoha.blogspot.com” on your Facebook walls and pages to inform others about our plight). If you know of anyone or any organization interested in helping out poor hospitals in Africa, please email me and let me know. I will love to speak to them. We will also be launching a website for the hospital very soon. It will be used to provide information on the current state of affairs.


Thank you for your help, prayers and support. I will be reposting this information again sometime in the near future due to the enormity of our need.

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