Tragedy has struck St. Anne's Hospital in Damongo, as two infants have lost their lives and three more remain in critical condition following a power disconnection by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
The hospital's power supply was disconnected for the second time last Tuesday due to an outstanding electricity bill of over four million Ghana cedis. Regrettably, the consequences of this disconnection have been devastating.
Dr. Gbeadese Ahmed, the head of communications and clinical coordinator at the hospital, expressed the heartbreaking impact of the power outage on the infants' lives. He explained that the hospital's inability to access blood from the Blood Bank due to the lack of power contributed to the deaths of two babies. The power situation also prevented the hospital from conducting necessary tests to find compatible blood for transfusion.
“From the very first time they disconnected us, we lost a baby, and the second time we lost another. As we speak, there is another one in critical condition, and the reason is that we couldn't transfuse [blood to] them. It looks like almost every day we are going to have a problem to deal with,” Dr. Gbeadese lamented.
The dire circumstances have forced the hospital to suspend deliveries until the power is restored, further complicating the situation for expectant mothers in need of urgent medical attention.
The power disconnection initially occurred on May 4, but it was temporarily resolved following the intervention of the Savannah Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril. However, NEDCo issued a warning, stating that the hospital would face another disconnection on May 9 if the outstanding debt remained unpaid.
Mr. Rashid Damba, the hospital's accountant, expressed frustration at the futile attempts to prevent the power disconnection. Despite their best efforts, the hospital's appeals to NEDCo have failed to yield the desired outcome.
“We have done everything humanly possible to prevent NEDCo from disconnecting power supply to the hospital, but our efforts have not yielded the desired outcome,” Mr. Damba shared in an interview with Citi News.
