EASE® Ghana installs first CT scanner at FOCOS Hospital

A Computerised Tomography (CT) scanner has been installed at the FOCOS Orthopedic Hospital, Accra to boost healthcare delivery at the hospital and the Patang community.

A CT scanner is used to produce images of the inside of the body to aid diagnosis. It is the first to be installed by Equipment- As-A-Service (EASE) Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the African Asset Finance Company (AAFC), in West Africa in line with its quest to improve healthcare delivery in Africa.

Under the five-year contract between EASE Ghana and FOCOS, the Siemens CT scanner would be operated under a pay-per-use model of about $40 per scan, thereby helping the hospital avoid a high up-front cost.

At the inauguration of the scanner and launch of EASE Ghana on Monday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AAFC, Frans Van Schaik, said the EASE® Healthcare programme was to help increase access to diagnostic equipment through a flexible financing module to aid healthcare delivery.

Given the critical role this equipment plays in healthcare delivery, he called on the government to reinstate the exemption for medical equipment to enable the organisation to install more of such equipment in health facilities nationwide.

He said the company had planned to install $75 million worth of equipment in Ghana under this programme in the coming years.

The Managing Director of EASE Ghana, Dr Kanyinsola Oyeyinka said the shortage of high quality medical equipment in Africa, was a barrier to quality care for many patients.

She said EASE® Ghana’s module helped to address the high cost of acquisition and maintenance adding that it was ready to provide equipment for new facilities across the country.

She said apart from the CT and MRI scanners, the company also provided mammography machines, and intends to purchase X-rays and ultrasound machines in the near future, as well as expand into other sectors like ICT and agriculture.

The CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant commended EASE® Ghana for its financing module, given how difficult it was to finance such medical equipment especially for public hospitals.

Noting that by 2050, Africa's population would have about 60 per cent below 30 years, he said the next biggest demand on the continent would be healthcare and EASE® Ghana’s solution would be beneficial.

The CEO of FOCOS Hospital, Dr Irene Wulff, said the installation of the equipment had not only saved the hospital a huge cost, but would help take its quality service to its patients, several notches higher.

She said the hospital spent GH¢600,000 to fix its old CT scan and would have spent between $750,000 and $1.2 million on a new machine, but for arrangement with EASE® Ghana.