The Acting Medical Director of the Upper West Regional Hospital (UWRH), Dr. Philip K. K. Baabiineh, has described the expansion of the hospital’s dialysis unit as a major milestone in renal healthcare delivery, while appealing for a reliable power supply to protect the newly installed equipment.
The expanded unit, valued at more than GH¢4 million, was commissioned in Wa on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, with six new Fresenius dialysis machines and six modern dialysis recliners procured through the intervention of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, in collaboration with the Upper West Parliamentary Caucus and Sustainable Health Education and Interventions Limited (SHEILD-GH).
Dr. Baabiineh said the expansion represented more than an increase in healthcare infrastructure, describing it as a moment of “hope, compassion, dignity and the preservation of human life.”
He said his personal experience of losing his mother on March 28, 1997, when he was a young boy, profoundly influenced his decision to pursue medicine.
According to him, the experience transformed medicine from a profession into a calling, with every preventable death reinforcing his commitment to ensuring that people do not lose their lives because essential healthcare is unavailable.
Dr. Baabiineh said his professional experience had exposed him to patients with kidney failure whose conditions deteriorated not necessarily because their diseases were untreatable, but because they could not access dialysis.
He recalled that before 2022, patients in the Upper West Region who could not afford to travel outside the region for dialysis were often left with limited treatment options.
The hospital began dialysis services in 2022 with a single donated machine. By the end of 2023, management had acquired two additional machines, bringing the operational capacity to three.
Despite the limited capacity, the renal team had conducted 4,916 dialysis sessions for 268 patients, he disclosed.
Dr. Baabiineh said each dialysis session represented more than a medical procedure, describing it as another birthday celebrated, another child returning to school, another parent returning home and another family given hope.
However, increasing demand had placed significant pressure on the unit, resulting in growing waiting lists, long-distance travel for some patients and increased workload for staff.
He expressed appreciation to Rt. Hon. Bagbin, saying the impact of his intervention would ultimately be measured by the lives saved and the hope restored to patients and their families.
He said the Speaker also ensured that the intervention was fully financed, covering the procurement, international shipping, port clearing, transportation to Wa, installation and other logistical requirements.
Dr. Baabiineh described the intervention as “philanthropy,” “servant leadership,” “patriotism” and “compassion in action.”
He also highlighted the Speaker’s broader contribution to the development of the Upper West Region, including support for education and advocacy for the establishment of a medical school in the region.
POWER CHALLENGE
While celebrating the expansion, Dr. Baabiineh raised concerns over the hospital’s unstable power supply, warning that frequent power fluctuations could undermine the reliability and lifespan of the new dialysis machines.
He said the hospital’s lack of a dedicated power transmission line had contributed to the breakdown of automated medical equipment and disrupted the delivery of essential healthcare services.
He therefore appealed to government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders to support efforts to secure a stable and uninterrupted power supply for the hospital.
“Protecting these machines is ultimately protecting the lives of the patients who depend on them,” he stressed.
Dr. Baabiineh also praised the renal nurses, physicians, biomedical engineers, pharmacists, laboratory professionals, administrators and other staff who have sustained dialysis services despite operational challenges.
He expressed gratitude to SHEILD-GH, the Upper West Parliamentary Caucus and Rt. Hon. Bagbin for their respective contributions to the expansion.
“You have expanded hope. You have expanded opportunity. You have expanded life itself,” he said.
Dr. Baabiineh assured stakeholders that the hospital would use and maintain the machines prudently to ensure the sustainability of the intervention.
He said the expansion should mark the beginning of a stronger future for renal care in Northern Ghana, where no patient is denied life-saving treatment because of geography or circumstance.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
