The Africa Partners Medical Ghana (APMG), NGO in partnership with its United States of America (USA) branch, has presented an ambulance to the Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku in the Upper East Region to improve health care delivery.

The ambulance, which would be stationed at the facility, would augment the National Ambulance Service, as it would aide to transport referred patients to better-equipped health facilities for further medical and surgical management.

The Board Chairman of APMG, Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after handing over the ambulance to the management of the hospital that APMG was a medical support NGO based in the USA with a branch in Ghana.

He said as the name of the Organisation suggests, they work in many health institutions across several African countries including Sierra Leone, Uganda, Nigeria among others.

"In working with health institutions, we identified some challenges that impede and prevent effective health service delivery. Essentially, what we do is capacity building for health staff.

We provide some of these services to augment the services that hospitals deliver to the people,” he said

Mr Aheto-Tsegah said the gesture by his outfit would assist the rendering of the full component of health care services that would benefit the people who needed health service.

He explained that when they got the offer from their partners in the USA for the opportunity for two ambulances, the two hospitals considered were the Ankaase Methodist Hospital and the Bawku Presbyterian hospital.

The Board Chairman said the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital was selected as a result of its location and the scope of services it renders and noted that the services of the ambulance would cover a large portion of the Upper East Region.

The General Manager of the Hospital, Samuel Fianko Gyan, said the facility had no stationed ambulance, “so I will say the donation of this ambulance is a piece of welcome news. Our position as a referral facility for all peripheral facilities around makes it very important for us.”

He disclosed that the hospital sometimes depended on a pick-up vehicle to transport cases from peripheral facilities and described such situations as unsafe and inconvenient, and said the ambulance would facilitate transportation of patients, especially from hard-to-reach areas within and outside the Bawku Municipality.

The General Manager said with the support of the ambulance, “We will be on top in terms of giving emergency services to our clients. The personnel are there, and so with the help of the ambulance, I am sure we will be able to continue the healing ministry of Christ.”

He said even though the Constituency ambulances were available, the newly presented ambulance would be stationed at the premises of the hospital.

“The National ambulance cannot be here always, we may need its services and it may be engaged. Once this ambulance will be here permanently, anytime, any day, we can rely on it.”

Mr Gyan expressed gratitude to officials of APMG and its partners in the USA and said the issue of ambulance, which was one of the major challenges of the facility was solved and used the opportunity to appeal for more life-saving medical equipment for the facility.