Gigha Medical Hospital

To improve access to healthcare in the Northern Region, the Gigha Medical Village (GMV) has opened an ultramodern, well-equipped hospital in Kakpagyili, a suburb of the Tamale metropolitan area.

The hospital will offer general medicine (OPD and in-patient care), maternal and child health, general and gynecologic surgery, radiology, laboratory, consultations with specialists, and pharmacy, among other services.

Dr. Sonlaar Joseph Kuutailmah, the chief executive officer of Gigha Medical Village, stated that the facility's mission is to provide patient-centered healthcare that excels in quality, service with integrity, and equitable access.

He disclosed that the hospital has been digitalized with a robust electronic health record system to make the management of patient health and information simple, quick, and highly effective.

Dr. Sonlaar explained that the Gigha Medical Village is a subsidiary of the Gigha Medical Village Foundation, a charity and humanitarian organization whose mission is to reach the unreached in the areas of health, education, and bringing joy to the faces of the underprivileged.

In addition, the chief executive officer urged the National Health Insurance Authority's management to authorize the service's accreditation so that the public can fully benefit from it.

"Gigha means 'Give Ghana,' and the name was suggested by a group of young Dutch women and men, Anouk, Annelies, and John Geert, in collaboration with the Evangelical Church of Ghana. This Gigha group in Holland was so impassioned about health infrastructure that, among other things, they partnered with the church to provide me with full sponsorship as a fourth-year medical student at UDS.

Mr. Sule Salifu, the mayor of Tamale, stated in his remarks that the project is in line with the Government Policy on Public Private Partnership for Quality and Affordable Health Service delivery to rural and urban communities, and he reaffirmed the commitment of the Akufo-Addo administration to provide Quality and Affordable health care to the people of Ghana, Northern Region included.

The mayor of Tamale stated that the development goals, notably regarding health service delivery, are consistent and perfectly aligned with the achievement of the seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

"I would also like to bring to the attention of the general public the government's efforts to extend health care delivery to the people of Tugu Yepala and its environs in the Tamale Metropolitan Area for the AGENDA 111 facility," he said.

Dr. Braimah Abubakari, the Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, emphasized the significance of health infrastructure in healthcare delivery.

He stated that the Ghana Health Service's mission is to make quality healthcare accessible to everyone in the country, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Dr. Braimah observed that the health facilities in the northern region were woefully insufficient to satisfy the needs of the population.

"In the northern region, we have over 4,700 electoral areas, but less than 800 health facilities to serve this population; in the Tamale metropolitan area, we have 63 CHPS zones, but only 12 CHPS compounds to serve the entire population," he noted.