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Due to a shortage of power to run the required equipment for a safe delivery, the St. Anne hospital in Damongo was unable to save the lives of two babies.

Due to the hospital’s failure to pay an unpaid electricity bill of more than four million Ghana cedis on Tuesday, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) interrupted the hospital’s power supply for the second time.

According to Dr. Gbeadese Ahmed, the hospital’s head of communications and clinical coordinator, the two infants died because the hospital was unable to obtain blood from the Blood Bank because of a lack of power.

He continued by saying that because of the power outage, the hospital was also unable to conduct blood compatibility tests for the infants.

“From the very first time they disconnected us, we lost a baby, and the second time we lost another. As we speak, there is another one in critical condition and the reason is that we couldn’t transfuse [blood to] them. It looks like almost every day we are going to have a problem to deal with.”

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The hospital’s power was switched off by the electrical company on May 4, however it was later restored thanks to the intervention of Savannah Regional Minister Saeed Muhazu Jibril.

NEDCo issued a warning, noting that if the unpaid balance persisted, its staff will disconnect the hospital once more on May 9.

The hospital’s accountant, Mr. Rashid Damba, bemoaned the futility of his attempts to stop the disconnect during an interview.

“We have done everything humanly possible to prevent NEDCo from disconnecting power supply to the hospital, but our efforts have not yielded the desired outcome,” he stated.