A much-anticipated free surgical outreach at the Chiraa Government Hospital hit a major snag over the weekend as the hospital’s faulty anesthesia machine forced the cancellation of goiter operations for several patients, drawing attention to critical infrastructure gaps in the facility.
While around 40 patients—including children suffering from hernias, hydroceles, and lipomas—successfully underwent surgeries as part of the outreach, patients with goiter were left disappointed when clinicians were unable to proceed due to the complete breakdown of the anesthesia machine.
Dr. Philip Anokye, the Clinical Coordinator at the hospital, described the situation as frustrating, revealing that the anesthesia equipment, already outdated and operating sub-optimally, failed entirely just as the goiter procedures were about to begin.
“Our anesthesia machine has been a challenge for some time. It functions partially on a good day, but this time it couldn’t even start. It affected several goiter patients who had been scheduled for surgery,” Dr. Anokye said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
He noted that the hospital’s inability to accommodate more patients during the outreach was also due to space constraints, as stalled projects—including a surgical block and maternity ward—remain unfinished due to lack of funding.
In response to the setback, Ransford Antwi, CEO of the Suncity Group of Companies and sponsor of the outreach programme, launched a renewed call for urgent public and private sector support to help equip the Chiraa facility.
“We were hoping to bring much-needed relief to dozens of goiter patients, but the absence of a functioning anesthesia machine made that impossible,” Mr. Antwi said. “If we can secure a new machine, we will resume the free surgeries immediately.”
Mr. Antwi emphasized that the outreach, part of a broader surgical care programme supported by Suncity Radio and its international partners, was committed to improving access to health services for underserved communities.
Both Dr. Anokye and Mr. Antwi appealed to philanthropists, health NGOs, and government agencies to urgently support the hospital with standard medical equipment, especially an anesthesia machine, to ensure uninterrupted surgical care.
As patients return home awaiting a second chance at life-changing surgery, the situation underscores the broader health infrastructure challenges facing rural and peri-urban medical facilities in Ghana.
