Like so many of the facilities on Village of Hope’s campus in Gomoa Fetteh, Ghana, Hope Christian Hospital sprung up not out of some extensive business plan or board vote, but out of absolute need.
As Village of Hope Managing Director Fred Asare explains it, the nonprofit hired a nurse over 20 years ago to provide medical care for its growing number of children and staffers.
A local farmer fell ill not long after and, with the nearest hospital some 20 communities away, his loved ones decided to see if Village of Hope’s nurse could help. He recovered quickly—and word spread just as fast.
“We wake up in the morning and there are people waiting outside the door of the nurse to be treated,” Asare said. “That’s when we realize we have to start a clinic.”
That "clinic" is now a nationally accredited 24-hour hospital serving more than 20,000 people each year. It offers emergency care, dentistry and optometry, surgical operations, and even treats newborn babies in its neonatal intensive care unit, one of only six across the entire country.
Still, even with such immense growth, treating patients can be a significant challenge, particularly when it comes to securing blood for everyone in need.
Take Miriam Dodoo, for example, a mother in Ghana's Central Region who sought care for her premature baby earlier this month. While her child survived, it took "at least a week" for the right blood type to become available for transfusion.
Miriam and her baby were lucky, but that's not always the case. It's our hope that, with your support, we can provide equipment essential to Hope Christian Hospital's expansion into a regional blood bank.
No matter who you are or where you are on a map, it shouldn't take a week to receive blood. Together, we can make sure it doesn't. Join us in supporting Hope Christian Hospital and the people of Ghana this World Blood Donor Day.
