Newmont Ghana, Akyem Mines has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and medical supplies worth Gh¢360,000.00 to the New Abirem Government Hospital (NAGH) to help improve the quality of health care in the Birim North District.

The items donated, include hospital beds, assorted gloves, coveralls, disposable gowns, gum boots, surgical and N95 nose masks, rebreather face masks, bottles of disinfectant.

Others are automatic external defibrillator, nebulizers, oxygen cylinders, concentrators, flow meters, laryngoscopes, endotracheal tubes, portable patient monitors and pulse oximeters, suction machines, bedside cabinets, washing machine and dryer, television sets, and table-top fridges.

Mr Joshua Mortoti, the General Manager of Newmont Ghana, Akyem Mines, who handed the items over to the facility, said the medical supplies were to equip a proposed testing laboratory, which is being monitored by the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

He said the centre would support the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and Newmont Ghana saw the need for its completion and furnishing.

The General Manager said it was important to build strong healthcare systems to support the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Mr Mortoti said the health and safety of workers and members of the host communities were an utmost priority.

He said the company established a US$20 million global fund to help host communities, government and employees around the world to combat the pandemic.

He said the company had donated to the national and the Birim North District Assembly to help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Mortoti urged the hospital to put the items to good use and expressed the hope it would go a long way to facilitate the work of the frontline workers in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the district and the region.

Dr Atta- Larbi Sakyi, the Medical Superintendent of the New Abirem Government Hospital, who received the items on behalf of the institution, lauded Newmont Ghana for the gesture and called on other philanthropists to also come to support the hospital.

Obrempong Kwesi Amoh Kyiretwie I, the Chief of Abirem thanked Newmont Ghana for the efforts to promote development in communities in their catchment areas.

He promised to make available land for the construction of nurses' bungalows to meet the accommodation needs of the health workers.