Western Regional minister advocates ICU facility to save lives

By Juliet Aguiar DUGBARTEY, Sekondi

Joseph Nelson, the Western Regional Minister, has launched a campaign to mobilize funds for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Takoradi Hospital to serve potential patients in the region.

The ICU he explained is to serve the people in the Western Region and to close a critical gap in the area’s healthcare delivery.

“We have zero as we speak, and the region has to depend on the Central Region. For patients in critical condition, every minute lost in transferring them across the region can mean the difference between life and death” he said.

He continued that “We all have the responsibility to ensure that this region has an ICU. It is not just important for me but for everyone, because we are all potential patients. You never know when it will be your turn to need that facility,” he said.

The regional minister was speaking at a Media Engagement and launch of Takoradi Hospital ICU project at Sekondi.

He noted that while government bears the mandate to provide such infrastructure, waiting solely on state intervention would be unfortunate and costly.

He added that the Takoradi Hospital has already provided a space for the ICU and hopefully when the funds are available work start.

Touching on cost, he revealed that an ICU facility would cost about GHc3 million and expressed hope that this could be achieved with the support of corporate institutions in the region, the media, and residents to join forces in a self-help initiative to deliver the much-needed facility.

To demonstrate commitment, he pledged GHc100,000 as seed money and urged others to follow suit

The Medical Superintendent at the Takoradi Hospital, Dr. George Peprah explained that “an ICU is a specialized unit that provides close monitoring and advance treatment for critically ill patients, including those with organ failure, stroke, or severe breathing difficulties. Unlike general wards, the ICU allows one-to-one care with advanced equipment such as ventilators and continuous monitoring devices, greatly improving survival chances”.

“The absence of an ICU means we are losing patients who could otherwise be saved. In a general ward, you cannot provide the kind of constant, specialized care that critical patients require” he further explained.

He pointed out that some deaths could have been prevented if there was an ICU in the region.

Dr. Marion Okoh-Owusu, Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services praised the Western Regional Minister for such an initiative.

“When patients are managed in an ICU, the risk of complications is reduced significantly, which improves survival chances” she added.

She therefore called on institutions within the region to support in cash or purchase equipment such as ventilator among others for the ICU.

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