George Faile Foundation News
November 2023
In the last 10 months the Faile Foundation has completed work mentioned in the last post. Both a dental chair and motorcycle for the eye clinic were purchased. In September a team of 4 from the US plus local labor repaired concrete walls and replaced doors & windows on 7 duplex style housing units. This served as a training session for local carpenters to continue rehabbing additional units in the future. To all of our donors, Thank You for your role in these projects!
The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Church has provided their support by donating 90% of the cost of purchasing a 2nd anesthesia machine and have contributed nearly 50% of the cost of a new operating room autoclave that is currently being purchased. Also for the operating room, the GFF has recently purchased 2 new cautery units.
Every year we meet several needs and have this year again bought food for the nutrition center, repaired equipment such as an ultrasound unit and the x-ray machine, and are providing staffing needs that include a general surgeon and OR nurse that does wound care and skin grafting. We also donated part of the cost for a container of medical equipment and supplies from Texas coordinated by a past frequent volunteer doctor.
Again, we thank all our donors and prayer warriors for the support provided BMC so it can continue as a platform to share Jesus!
January/February 2023
The Faile Foundation is planning a project to make repairs on the housing
units of Alafia Tinga, the long term treatment facility for tuberculosis at
Baptist Medical Centre. The patients there receive a 6 month course of
treatment and while there have an opportunity to do limited farming and
attend church on site. These housing units were built about 60 years ago and
are in a deteriorating condition to the point that half of the 35 units are
no longer habitable and the rest are not far behind. The most urgent needs
are repairing concrete, replacing windows and doors, and repairing the pump
on the borehole well. We plan on sending a team of 4 US construction
experienced individuals supplemented by local Ghanaian labor to do the
needed work. Please join us in supporting and praying for this long
neglected part of BMC and that the patients there will come to know and
receive Jesus. For more see:
https://baptistmedicalcenter.org/projects/alafia-tinga/
In addition we are planning to purchase a new dental chair replacing the
current unit which is roughly 50 years old. Also we plan to purchase a
motorcycle for the mobile eye clinic that began operation about 1 year ago
as part of the Public Health Unit. If you would like to donate specifically
for these needs just put a message on your check or PayPal donation.
This is a report from Mr. Ackom who manages the Faile Foundation Charity Fund which arranges and pays for specialty care needed elsewhere for BMC patients.
Summer 2022
The George Faile Foundation is named in memory of the founder of Baptist Medical Centre (BMC) and in honor of his son. Please see this testimonial about their work and dedication to God dating back to the mid 1950’s.
We continue to meet numerous needs at Baptist Medical Centre with latest being the purchase of a new anesthesia machine & chemistry analyzer. James, the primary nurse anesthetist (kneeling and smiling in the photo), is especially grateful for this gift. We continue to fund food purchases for the nutrition center, meet important medical supply needs, and operate a fund to meet BMC patient needs, especially children, for specialty care at other hospitals.
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Through a scholarship program we help medical students and resident physicians work at BMC. One of those past recipients, Dr. Heidi Haun, is now the primary general surgeon at BMC. To appreciate her work please watch this testimonial video from a recent student volunteer.
From the video note that a child had an x-ray, surgery was done, and the child received prayer and the gospel message of Jesus. Your donations met needs for this patient and have made a similar impact on the care of hundreds of thousands of patients over the past 20+ years through the many things provided by the GFF.
Find out more about the Haun’s 15 years dedicated to BMC.
Finally, we mourn the passing of a member of the Faile family, David Faile. David was the grandson of the founder of Baptist Medical Centre, Dr. George Faile, Jr and son of Dr. George Faile, III. He grew up in Ghana and spent a lot of time in and around the hospital. He had a great love for Ghana and for Nalerigu. He enjoyed helping people and hoped to be able to do some type of medical work. He died in February 2022, having never realized his dream. He had a real interest in the work of the hospital and would want to be a part of the effort there in any way possible. Thanks to all who gave a donation in memory of David as this raised thousands of dollars which will be used to fund a need at BMC.
Spring 2021
One of our main objectives is to provide opportunities for volunteers to serve at
Baptist Medical Centre. Covid-19 created nearly a year of interruption to the
usual stream of volunteers. The first group to return are pictured L to R: Dr. Fuller
Robinson, Tommy Harrison, Dr. Cindy Shumpert, Dr. Teresa Fowler, and Dr. Lynn
Coppola – all Covid vaccinated. Dr. Robinson, now age 92(!!!), has made over 70
trips to BMC providing dental care to the people of the region. For more see:
https://baptistmedicalcenter.org/volunteers/first-volunteers-in-11-months/
On the topic of opportunities, one of our donors asked about BMC’s spiritual
impact. This foundation supports BMC because of its Christian founding and
ongoing focus to share Jesus Christ. Medical care provides many opportunities to
witness that otherwise may not happen in day-to-day life. The BMC chaplaincy
reported over 600 salvations and over 800 rededications in 2020. Regular
devotions & worship happen through the outpatient clinics, nutrition center,
public health visits, and the TB village.
In addition, there are many other opportunities such as through the GFF Charity
Fund that provides specialty care to those who need services not available at
BMC. These patients often ride together for the 10+ hour trip to Kumasi. Rev.
Francis Ackom, our volunteer coordinator, shares stories from this service:
“We pray and share our faith with patients on the GFF Charity Care Program that
are referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. For instance, a
man with a 2-year history of leukemia accepted Christ two weeks before passing
away. On the same day, a woman with a shoulder tumor accepted Jesus.
An 8-year-old with an accidental ingestion of caustic soda was rendered unable to
adequately swallow solid food. Surgery was done successfully at KATH Kumasi and
the parents accepted Christ and are growing in the Christian faith. They recently
came to me to thank the Lord Jesus for saving the whole family.”
We thank all our donors for the support provided BMC so it can continue as a
platform to share Jesus!
Spring 2020
The link below is a testimonial from a medical student who served at BMC in February this year. This is an example of the impact that our student scholarships have. The Foundation normally gives out 10 to 15 scholarships of $500 to $1000 each year.
International Rotation- Ghana 2020
The following items were donated and/or purchased by the Foundation for BMC: 2 motorbikes with helmets, a refrigerator for the nutrition center, and a copier for the nursing director’s office.
These personal protective supplies were donated by the Foundation and purchased in Accra (the capitol of Ghana) and sent up before the lockdown.
Spring 2019
We are sad to report that long time guesthouse cook, Mr. Bawa Ziblim (left in picture), passed away on Monday April 15. He served hundreds of volunteers with great meals and a warm heart and will be sorely missed. Please pray for his family and specifically his wife Comfort who served as a nurse at BMC’s theatre for over 25 years.
Spring 2018
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We are currently the main source of financial support for Dr. Timothy Cahill who has been full time at BMC since 2014. Dr. Cahill and his family have been key to the ongoing success and operation at BMC. Please visit their blog at: The Cahills in Ghana. If you want to hear about God in action read the posts from January & February 2018!
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Since the opening of a new medical school in Tamale (2 hours from BMC) BMC has had much better success in recruiting and retaining Ghanaian doctors. This has been a blessing for BMC! One such doctor is Isabella Baba MD. The George Faile Foundation assisted her financially in obtaining her medical training and she is now serving at BMC. We also thank Dr. David and Dr. Yakubu!
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Our one employee, Mr. Francis Ackom, continues to do excellent work in several areas:
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He manages the volunteer guest house and assists volunteers in travel, licensing, and other areas
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He manages the Charity Fund. Through a past generous donation, this money provides for patients that need specialized medical care not available at BMC. Francis arranges referrals, transportation and payments for medical care for these patients, most of whom are treated at a teaching hospital in Kumasi (12 hours travel from BMC).
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He distributes a quarterly donation to BMC of $6000 used for food for the nutrition center, and fuel for public health vehicles and hospital generator.
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We purchased over $150,000 worth of equipment for BMC including:
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A new digital x-ray unit
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A new portable ultrasound unit
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Neonatal incubator
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Oxygen concentrator
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Industrial washing machine for hospital laundry
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Other miscellaneous supplies & other items
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Scholarships for 10 volunteer medical students and residents
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We have restarted the process of producing bandages thanks to the efforts of several churches throughout the southeastern US. A shipment of about 600 pounds is planned for later this year.
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BMC received a visit from the US ambassador to Ghana in January.
