Baptist Medical Center

Nalerigu is a small, traditional African town located near the city of Tamale in the northern part of Ghana, West Africa. The town is in an agrarian community and has a local market with limited shopping.

Become familiar with Ghana’s culture, history and economy by reviewing the Wikipedia Ghana Profile. Rich resources for Ghana health information include the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation IHME Ghana Country Profile and the World Health Organization Global Health Observatory Ghana Data.

People coming to Baptist Medical Center are usually impoverished, subsistence farmers. Some of the most common medical problems encountered are malaria, malnutrtion, pneumonia, tropical ulcers, typhoid fever, inguinal hernias, pregnancy complications, schistosomiasis, hypertension and anemia.

English is the official language of Ghana. Medical students and residents will able to work in English, with translation available for the approximately twenty local languages that will be encountered.

Baptist Medical Center has capacity for 120 inpatients, is usually full, and occasionally runs as high as 150 percent capacity. At the height of malaria season there may be up to 60-70 kids in the 18-bed pediatric ward. An average of 400-500 outpatients are seen in each clinic, with three clinic days a week. The Center also provides a public health ministry that sponsors rural clinics where villagers receive immunizations, health teaching, prenatal clinics and under five clinics. The hospital ministry was started in 1958 by Dr. Georg Faile, Jr., with support of the International Mission Board, SBC.

The medical staff of Baptist Medical Center consists of two to three long-term American staff physicians and one to two long-term Ghanaian physicians at any one time. In addition, a number of physicians from America and other nations visit for short periods each year.

Northern Ghana is increasingly afflicted by the growing HIV epidemic, a plague compounded by the remoteness and cultural mores of this region. In response, the Baptist Medical Center Public Health Department has developed and implemented a comprehensive HIV initiative that is fully supported by onsite Internet resources, HIV rapid testing, CD4 count monitoring, and a trained and dedicated staff.

The Public Health Department HIV staff have a keen interest in sharing their skills with outside learners and volunteers. These volunteers will participate in every aspect of this critical service, including voluntary HIV testing and counseling, antiretroviral HIV outpatient therapy, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and management of opportunistic infections with the assistance of the nearby Baptist Medical Center staff.

Baptist Medical Center is also headquarters for the regional public health department, serving some 34,000 residents in 64 rural villages south of the medical center. Students are welcome to participate in the full range of service. Public health personnel are Ghanaian-trained nurses and community health workers who provide bed nets, prenatal care, well child care, vaccinations, HIV testing and counseling, and treatment and referral of more common diseases.

Outpatient HIV medication treatment is offered to appropriate patients at the public health department, with the support of CD4 and viral load monitoring. The public health program also monitors community health status, particularly collecting data regarding the primary communicable disease threats: tuberculosis, malaria, yaws (spirochete infection caused by Treponema pallidum pertenue), guinea worm, bacterial meningitis, cholera, and measles.

INMED invites all participants to consider raising extra funds to donate to support this facility. While such efforts are not required, they will provide opportunities INMED personnel to become involved in this important aspect of international healthcare.

Wireless internet is available. Outages and slow speeds are common. National cell phone service is ubiquitous.

Baptist Medical Center