The Virtue Foundation closed 2023 with our annual Surgical and Teaching Mission to Ghana. In November, a multidisciplinary team of 14 volunteer doctors, surgeons, and nurses, from the U.S., Austria, and Ghana, traveled to northwest Ghana to support underserved communities with healthcare and educational initiatives.
Driven to have the most impactful mission yet, the team served over 450 patients and performed nearly 60 surgeries. The team consisted of a diverse set of specialties, including orthopedic surgery, anesthesia, obstetrics and gynecology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, and critical care. For many of these doctors, it was their first time visiting Ghana and their visit laid the groundwork for future trips and initiatives. Moreover, this trip included two Ghanaian doctors, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist and a neurosurgery resident from Accra, who helped expand Virtue Foundation’s networks and partnerships in the country.
Donations of medical supplies and equipment were distributed across healthcare facilities in Northern Ghana including Tumu Municipal Hospital, Upper West Regional Hospital, the Kong CHPS compound, the Sakai Health Center, the Bugubelle CHPS compound, and Wallembelle Polyclinic. Among this year’s notable donations was an endoscopic tower for the Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa, generously given by Richard Wolf GmbH.
Beyond the clinical work, this trip focused on teaching and training, a knowledge-and-skills transfer that empowers local doctors and nurses to better monitor and manage their patients. This year, all members of our team were involved in teaching—through direct patient care in the clinic and operating room, lectures, and leading workshops for local doctors, nurses, and midwives in Tumu and Wa. These workshops included hands-on demonstrations on how to use the endoscopic tower to manage patients with difficult airways as well as sessions on using donated Kiwi devices in assisted vaginal deliveries. The Virtue Foundation continues to work with our partners to organize additional training sessions via Zoom.
This year’s return trip to Ghana was one of the Virtue Foundation’s most successful, as it laid the groundwork for future missions, while expanding and developing its current partnerships. New doctors visited these facilities, fostering useful relationships and exploring ways to provide access to much-needed sub-specialty care. Moreover, members of the team met with local governmental officials and data scientists to share the most recent results of the Actionable Data Initiative and discussed additional collaboration—a key step towards translating the Initiative’s insights into ways to further support the healthcare system in Ghana.
In January 2024, the Virtue Foundation was honored by the Upper West Regional Hospital for improving the accessibility of healthcare to the people of the Upper West Region.
The Virtue Foundation would like to thank all the companies and individuals who helped make this mission possible, including Sonnenapotheke, Sanitätshaus, Karawanken Apotheke, Richard Wolf GmbH, Red Cross Klagenfurt, Bezirksstelle Klagenfurt, Lohman & Rauscher, Medtronic, GL Pharma, Ursapharm, Dian Consulting GmbH, Jolly Austria, BESS Medical Verein Medical Impulse, Laborie Medical Technologies, iCare, New World Medical, Nanodropper, Mobius Therapeutics, ImprimisRx and many more.
The Virtue Foundation continues to be excited and hopeful at the prospects of future initiatives in Ghana in 2024 and beyond.
