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Estevan medical specialists back from a medical mission in Ghana

X-Ray and CT technologist Tiana Palmer and registered nurse Josie Folk, both working at St. Joseph’s Hospital, just came back from Ghana, Africa, where they spent about three weeks volunteering at the Cape Coast Hospital.

X-Ray and CT technologist Tiana Palmer and registered nurse Josie Folk, both working at St. Joseph’s Hospital, just came back from Ghana, Africa, where they spent about three weeks volunteering at the Cape Coast Hospital.

For Folk to go on a medical mission trip was a dream ever since she decided to become a nurse, but she never wanted to go on her own.

Prior to this project  Folk and Palmer were just colleagues, but things have changed.

“One day we were both in the lunchroom and Tiana started talking about how she also wanted to do some kind of mission trip,” said Folk.

So without thinking twice they put their efforts together and got into finding a program and a hospital, which had work for both of them. They wanted to see how the medical system works in Africa. Finding the right fit turned out to be quite a task. In the end, they decided to go with the Global Medical Project

“It was one of the only ones that we could find that allowed us to work together,” said Folk.

“It was an organization through the United Kingdom,” added Palmer.

Their Estevan connections, including personnel and management of the St. Joseph’s Hospital was very supportive of their idea, so they went ahead, following their passion and curiosity and headed out to Ghana. 

“I just thought it would be fun to get a different kind of perspective of the health-care system, and what nursing would be like in (a developing) country,” said Folk.

“I’ve done other humanitarian work in the past, and I just wanted to do a medical trip to see how health care is in a different country and how they operate and pretty much broaden my knowledge,” added Palmer.

And the trip didn’t disappoint, even though there were quite a few surprises on their way. When they arrived, the radiology department and support services were on a three-day strike, which ended up working to their best as they had some spare time.

“We toured around and got to know the place and the people. And the second day I just went to outpatient department and just did basic things,” recalled Palmer, adding that on the third day of strike she got to go to the school to see how it works and also visited with Grade 1 children. They also went to the orphanage, which was another great experience.

“They were so welcoming, so full of love. They were self-sufficient. The older children seemed to be taking care of the younger (ones),” said Folk.

Palmer and Folk knew that they were going to a developing country, and they were surprised how developed the hospital actually was.

“They had a fully functioning CT-department. They had all actual medical supplies that you could need,” said Folk.

It was a teaching hospital, so it had more equipment, strong teaching specialists and students going through it.

“They had actually nicer X-Ray equipment than we have,” said Palmer.

Besides, when there was a lack of equipment Ghanaian medical staff appeared to be creative and found ways, using what they had.

However, there were a lot of sad parts of the experience. The biggest disappointment for them was the massive delay in care that they faced.

“If a patient comes to you in an emergency room and they need a drug, a family member has to take the prescription, go the pharmacy, grab the drug and then bring it to back for it to be administered,” explained Folk.

While working there they also couldn’t provide help to some patients in a timely manner or at all, because the health care in Ghana is not covered and is quite pricy, and a big part of the population is poor.

“With radiology, if you don’t have the money you won’t be getting the necessary X-Ray or CT unless it’s a real emergency case and you have to figure out how to get money afterward, but usually you have to pay right up front,” shared Palmer.

All these challenges were hard for them, as medical professionals, to accept, and it also reminded how different the situation is in Canada.

“I think the biggest thing that I take away from it is how fortunate we are here in Canada even for little things. I’m thankful for my education, I’m thankful for our health-care system, I’m thankful for our washing machines,” said Folk.

“And power, constant power,” added Palmer. “They don’t have electricity (system) like we have here, they have hydropower so if there is not enough water in reservoir they shut off the power for a few hours until the water comes back up… so the power just shuts off in the whole country.”

Fortunately, most places have a backup power-sources. 

Josie Folk
Josie Folk with an anesthesiologist and an ICU nurse that were from Berlin teaching in the hospital in Ghana. Photo submitted

On the other hand, the disparity of the system also allowed Palmer and Folk to get a lot of the new experience and work with diseases and pathologies developed into the stages, which they don’t usually see in Canada.

“They had a lot of … things like trauma, lots of car accidents, just because they drive a little different than we do and they don’t wear seat belts… And then just diseases like cancer, that just got to stage four because they don’t come in to see the doctor until it’s really bad,” said Palmer, explaining that often people in Ghana either don’t have resources to get to the hospital or/and the money.

Palmer Folk
4. While on the trip, Tiana Palmer, left, and Josie Folk visited a local orphanage. Photo submitted

Folk said that she probably won’t go on another mission trip, even though this time was priceless.

“I’m really, really grateful for the experience that I got and it was really an eye-opener in all aspects of life for me,” said Folk. 

“For Josie and I, we always want to help the patient as quickly as possible with the best care possible. And while we were there it was kind of hard with our hands was tied,” explained Palmer.

After all, both of them were glad to be back to work where they have resources to help patients the best way possible.