Ghana Hospital Performs First Dialysis After 64 Years

After 64 years of operation, Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital in Ghana made history on January 3rd with its first dialysis treatment. A 47-year-old woman became the inaugural patient at the hospital's brand new Dialysis Centre, receiving care from a 10-member team of kidney specialists led by Dr. Christabel Owusu.

For decades, kidney patients in Mampong and the wider Eastern Region faced an impossible choice. Travel hours to Accra or other major cities multiple times a week for dialysis, or go without treatment.

The journey wasn't just long. It was expensive, physically draining, and emotionally devastating for families already struggling with chronic illness.

Ghana loses more than 4,000 people to chronic kidney disease every year. With fewer than 400 dialysis machines in the entire country, concentrated in just nine of 16 regions, access to treatment has been a matter of geography and luck.

The new center cost 5.8 million Ghanaian cedis (about $1.5 million USD) and came together through a partnership led by Sustainable Health Education and Interventions (SHEILD). Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin officially opened the facility in May 2025.

Dr. Kofi Ablorh, the hospital's Medical Director, called the moment "historic and emotional." His team had dreamed of expanding specialist care for years, watching patients leave their region for treatment they desperately needed closer to home.

The Ripple Effect

This isn't just about one hospital or one patient. The center represents the second dialysis facility championed by SHEILD, following their success at Police Hospital in Accra.

Dr. John Nkrumah Mills, former President of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, noted the impact will reach far beyond chronic kidney disease patients. Women with complicated pregnancies who develop acute kidney failure will now have life-saving treatment within reach.

Local traditional leaders from Akuapem played a crucial role in making the project happen. Their collaboration with medical professionals and corporate sponsors shows what's possible when communities unite around healthcare access.

Dr. Sylvia Anie, a SHEILD Board Director, acknowledged that dialysis treatment remains expensive. She's calling on businesses and individuals to contribute to an operational fund for vulnerable patients who can't afford care.

The hospital plans to expand services and sustain the center long-term, transforming kidney care access for thousands of people who previously had nowhere to turn.