Best Medical Center in Ghana: Nyaho Medical Center

Interview with Dr Elikem Tamaklo, Managing Director of Nyaho Medical Center

Where do you see the health care sector today in Ghana moving with regards to today’s trends and challenges?

We are in a very exciting place in Ghana right now in terms of health care delivery. Over the last 20 to 25 years, Ghana has made significant strides in its delivery of healthcare services. There has been a shift during this period from clinical disease, such as Malaria and Tuberculosis, to more sub-clinical diseases, such as Hypertension, Diabetes and the cardiovascular risk factors associated with them. This trend is not unique to Ghana, which has recorded improvements in life expectancy as well as economic growth, but occurs globally: as people live longer, the incidence of these kinds of diseases increases.

For us as a hospital, we need to think very carefully about how we manage our resources to meet this current trend. In cases such as hypertension and diabetes, heart attacks and strokes are typical by-products of the disease. We need to examine how Ghana’s setup allows us to manage these diseases in the long term as well as our prevention methods against the development of these significant diseases. That is the area in which Nyaho is currently seeking to focus its resources.

What about any challenges emanating from the loss of brain power in Ghana, regarding the placement of doctors in the health care system?

“The brain drain” – the migration of skilled personnel (in this case, doctors) for training outside of the country of origin and the subsequent residence in these foreign countries is not a strange concept in Ghana. The nation has had its fair share of this occurrence. What we have seen over the last ten years is that Ghana is now a prime destination for investors, tourists, and foreign and local enterprise; so people are now coming back. Not only are we seeing the reverse brain drain or the “brain gain”, but there are also institutions in Ghana that are focusing on developing and training doctors in the country. New specialties are being developed which is very promising as it builds up the capacity of our healthcare system towards greater sustainability. Over the next ten to twenty years, we should start to see a lot more sophistication when it comes to the training of our doctors. Healthcare may be one of the biggest growth areas in Ghana.

Nyaho Medical Centre is highly recognised throughout the healthcare industry in Ghana for its high calibre of health care professionals and excellent facilities. Give us a brief introduction to the centre and tell us about The Nyaho Way.

Nyaho Medical Centre has been operating for exactly 45 years this year. It was founded by the late Dr. Kwami Nyaho Tamaklo. He had a vision to give the best in nursing and medical care in Ghana and outside of its borders.

Nyaho Medical Centre has been operating for exactly 45 years this year. It was founded by the late Dr. Kwami Nyaho Tamaklo. He had a vision to give the best in nursing and medical care in Ghana and outside of its borders. We are committed to having an intense focus on the patient care while bringing the best of international standards to Ghana. We thrive on using the learning that we have gained to have a bigger impact on our patients. The Nyaho Way is a description of the culture and values of our staff: the behaviours that we want our staff to demonstrate. There are ten elements to the Nyaho Way and it begins at the first point of call; when you arrive on our premises, our mission is to give you a smile because we know that patients are usually very stressed, anxious or worried; a smile can go a long way to ease a patient’s pain or stress level. We listen attentively: for our doctors and nurses, it is important for us to listen, not just to the symptoms but to the underlying factors behind the symptoms. Not only do we emphasize active communication, but we act speedily with information we have received from our patients. We believe in the escalation of issues, according to levels of complexity, for a quick resolution. I can go into more detail on all the specifics of the Nyaho Way; however, to summarize, the overall objective centres on the addressing of the patients’ needs and concerns in a timely and effective way.

You are one of the leading medical centres in Ghana. Who are your clients; what segments do you cater for?

Our clients cover the whole spectrum of the Ghanaian society, from individuals and families to corporate clients and insurance companies. We have catered to the needs of embassies, government bodies and other varied and prominent institutions for several years. In the last ten to fifteen years, insurance companies have become one of our biggest clients. We treat patients that are covered under various health insurance schemes.

Let´s talk a bit about the services that you offer. Will you be launching any new services?

As I mentioned, we have been in existence for 45 years and are constantly on a growth trajectory. We have had a history of pioneering and we intend to maintain that reputation even with our current strategy and five-year plan.

We had to reimagine what the next 5 to 10 years would look like. We realised that we have to move in tandem with changes in technology lest we become irrelevant. Health care is moving at such a fast pace that data collection is important; thus, the first thing we started with this year was transitioning to a new integrated electronic platform. We are currently collating all of our patient data electronically; when a patient arrives, they are registered, the doctors prescribe, document and request further information, and results are inputted, generated or processed within the system. Having patient notes and data online gives every specialist access to the integrated data that allows them to make better decisions for patients. That has been our major investment for this year and it will allow us to move beyond our walls to the vicinity of our patients in subsequent years.

At the moment, our patients come personally to our physical establishment, but we have realised that the dynamics and demographics of Ghana are changing. We see patients from not just Ghana but also from outside of Ghana. We need to look at how we can provide better care closer to them. That means shifting our emphasis from treatment to more of primary care services and prevention. We are moving primary care services into the community and this is an exciting endeavour for us.

We are also paying close attention to our diagnostic services. All advancement in health care services requires significant investment. Over the next 5 years we are hoping to start giving more specific treatment to patients due to early diagnosis. Thus, one of our key areas has been in investing in a PACS system which allows remote viewing of radiology scans such as Ct-scans, implying that we can receive specialist input earlier.  We are also looking into endoscopy and all of the associated innovations for laparoscopic surgery. Over the next 5 years, we want to have a more refined diagnostics centre which includes Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We are investigating opportunities for PET scanning; however, that would be primarily through collaboration and so we are looking for strategic partnerships by which we can get the whole spectrum of care for patients. Finally, we are also examining high-definition, technology-based surgical treatments which would position us as the frontrunner in advancements in healthcare services in the nation.

So the primary focus of partnerships would be technology?

We realised that significant investment is required for diagnostic and therapeutic equipment; however, what maybe more important is the thinking behind that, in reference to processes and work flow. We are looking for strategic partners to help us not only in procuring equipment but in troubleshooting the logic behind the equipment, because what works in one environment may not necessarily work in another. We want to leapfrog, to learn from mistakes that have occurred in other areas in the world and move forward. We are looking for strategic partners who can give us both technology and knowhow, either from a range of different partners or from one specific organisation. We have already started engaging different partners and it is exciting to see what is feasible or possible. There is so much that we can do now.

You mentioned a 5 year plan. What is your vision for the centre over the next few years?

In terms of our 5 year plan, I would like to see an even greater focus on the patient. We want to enhance our reputation as a specialist hub and make the necessary investments to be able to meet all of the requirements of our specialists. We want to see a society or a network that is integrated through technology but we also want to see that primary care is closer to the vicinity of the patient. That means that we are empowering our patients, within their own locale, with preventative methods towards health and wellness. In 2 years’ time, if you were to come back, I would hope that you would see more beds, better equipment and a better patient flow. We want to see from the feedback from our patients that they are journeying seamlessly through the system from the time they are diagnosed to the time that they leave and also that the care continues once they have left. This is very possible within a 2 year framework and I believe that we can do that to a very high standard.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

For us in Nyaho, we have realised that we have to meet international standards. We can’t afford not to because the Ghanaian society is changing; there is now a greater expectation from our patients because of technology and access to the internet. Patients know what they want, they know what is available and they know what they should have access to in ensuring the best treatments for their conditions. For us to meet our clients´ expectations, we need strategic investors who are currently working at that level. We need investors that can aid in our thinking and help us to identify how we, as the Nyaho brand, can become the beacon of hope for our patients and our nation. How can we become the central focus where patients can find their answers instead of having to go to multiple centres or having to go to India or America for their treatment? How can we, as Nyaho, be that institution in Ghana? We want to know how we can realistically use technology to do that. We can’t do everything so we want to partner with groups that have the expertise to be able to give our patients and clients the care that they desire. That is the message that we are trying to give and what Nyaho stands for. Nyaho’s continued vision is to be the one stop shop for our patients.