Group Chairman of Euroget De-Invest, Dr Said Deraz, has presented an ambulance to the Upper West Regional Hospital as a complementary boost for emergency services at the new facility.
The donation was in fulfilment of a personal pledge he made at the commissioning of the Wa Regional Hospital in August 2019.
The Egyptian investment company is currently building nine regional and district hospitals in the country,
Dr Deraz noted that the ambulance will complement the fight against the global health crisis at the level of the region.
He took the opportunity to praise and thank Ghana’s frontline healthcare workers who have dedicated themselves to fight the COVID-19 pandemic so that we can have a better chance of winning the battle.
“Gentlemen… we remember on August 18, 2019, when we all honoured the Commissioning of Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the President of the Republic and a number of Honourable ministers.”
“The hospital is now operating and managed by a group of the most skilled medical cadres in Ghana ... I was at the end of the word in which I praised the strength of the Ghanaian Egyptian relations and its long history for sixty-three years,” he told reporters.
“We have been and are still working on the development of our countries... believe that no life without water, no life without education and no life without health ... water, education and health are the triangle of foundation of our country's development,” he added.
“I would like to express my greetings to the good people of Wa and invite them to accept my humble donation…the Ambulance as I promised them in that day of commissioning of their regional hospital.”
The top of the art Nissan-make ambulance was designed to specifications on request and boasts of a ventilator as part of the advanced system it operates on.
It is also fitted with diagnostic equipment that enables some tests to be carried on the patient during transportation.
Again, the vehicle also has a system that can monitor and record the vital data of the patient during the transportation process.
Dr Deraz intimated that although he was aware of plans by the government to provide an ambulance to the hospital, the sheer scope of the hospital's capacity, which included specialist services, meant it would need more than one.
He said the investment company was working to deliver on the remaining projects, including the 500-bed military hospital in Kumasi, and the identical 60-bed district hospitals in Tepa and Nsawkaw.
Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Aboagye, who received the ambulance on behalf of the Upper West Region, expressed his gratitude for the act prayed that the donation will complement government's effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.