Meet the German-based Ghanaian doctor building 130-bed hospital for vulnerable children

For almost 15 years, a German-based Ghanaian doctor forfeited his personal savings and luxurious lifestyle to help build a 130-bed hospital for Ghanaians.

The 39-year-old, Samuel Okae, who has invested his time, money and resources, in the project said the hospital seeks to help the vulnerable get the best of health care.

The hospital, named the ‘Krankenhaus Ghana’, is expected to offer free medical care for children under 5 years.

The Ghanaian surgeon,  in an interview with News Africa Channel, monitored by theghanareport.com, revealed his motivation for taking this uncharted path.

It all happened during one of his trips back home. After a visit to some regions, the young doctor said the state of most of the hospitals saddened him.

“The idea of building the hospital came 15 years ago when he was a student at the Charité Medical University, Berlin, where he received a scholarship.

“I had the chance to visit several hospitals in my native country. It was then I realised the miserable conditions in many hospitals in Ghana for the first time.

“Although I always wanted to be a doctor to help others, a visit to the other hospitals during the study opened my eyes to the sub-standard conditions there.

“I was saddened when I compared both countries [Ghana and Germany]. It was then I felt motivated to start the hospital project to provide for the vulnerable,” he stated.

The dream of Dr Okae is to use his experience to give vulnerable children a chance to live and have access to the best of healthcare.

With this in mind, he acquired land in Accra, where he is currently constructing a three-storey hospital.

He said the 130-bed hospital will have many operation rooms, child-care facilities, accidents, emergency units among others.

The facility is expected to employ 100 workers and treat 200 children daily.

Asked how much he has spent so far, the 39-year-old surgeon said he has spent over 400,000 euros of his personal savings on the project.

He hopes the project will be completed before December 31, this year.

In Ghana and many parts of Africa, children are often disadvantaged when it comes to medical care.

This results in many deaths caused by infectious diseases and malaria which could easily be treated with the best medical care.

According to the World Bank, the child mortality rate in Germany is three out of 1000 births in five years, while that of Ghana is 48 per 1,000 births every year.