By Mohamed Lamin Banya
AMI Expeditionary Healthcare Sierra Leone has provided medical equipment and consumables to both Connaught and the Kingharman Road Maternal Child Health hospitals.
Country Manager of AMI Sierra Leone, Kadie-Yatta Kallon said Adult and Paediatric Bag Valve Masks for ventilationCautery Pens for Surgical use, Anaesthesia CircuitsVentilation Circuits, Suction tubing and canisters,Theater drapes, Adult Nappies andTheater sponges, Bed pans and Bed Washing bowls, medications of various broad spectrum antibiotics andNasal spray were among the items donated to the two hospitals.
The donation was graced by the AMI Global Medical Director from the USA, Dr. Mike Wilson, AMI Sierra Leone Medical Director Dr. SoccohKabia and AMI Rotational Practice Manager, Mr JannieHattingh.
AMI Expeditionary Healthcare Sierra Leone, formally called Aspen Medical, is rated as one of the best healthcare service providers in the country.
According to Madam Kallon, they have sacks-full of medical equipment, medications and consumables which might be of great use to healthcare facilities that lack such.
“We have a lot of theater equipment that we want to give out to sister health facilities,” she said.
AMI’s Country Manager stated that the equipment donated to the two hospitals are not only expensive but also difficult to procure locally.
She added that this was not the first time they are providing support to other healthcare facilities in the country, and affirmed their willingness to providing similar support to health centres outside Freetown.
Madam Kallon further stated that though their clients are mostly international expatriates, they also provide medical care to people in dire need of emergency healthcare services, and are open to the general public.
“We stabilise patients and provide medical evacuation to different destinations around the globe, if we are unable to manage the situation in country,” she said.
She mentioned that AMI is also considering providing capacity building trainings for healthcare personnel in the government hospitals, focusing on topics such as disasters management, patient care, bedside management, etc.
This support from AMI is expected to have a positive impact as the beneficiary institutions are two of the main referral hospitals in the country.
For his part, the Hospital Care Manager at Connaught, Dr. Mustapha Kabba, commended AMI for the gesture and promised the said items would be used for the intended purposes.
He added that Connaught is already on the move to establish more partnership with other private partners involved in healthcare delivery.
“We have already established synergy with AMI, and going forward we would identify areas of collaboration for better improvement in healthcare service delivery in the country,” he said.
Hospital Secretary at Kingharman Road Maternal Child Health hospital, Tejan Bawoh expressed similar sentiment toward the gesture. He said the donation came at a time it is mostly needed, and made a commitment that they would be used for the intended purposes.
