MTN Ghana has fixed more than 1,700 hospital beds and thrown in GH¢1 million to settle bills for patients who've been discharged but can't leave because they can't pay.
The company's CEO, Steven Blewett, made the announcement on Wednesday during the annual Y'ello Care employee volunteerism programme at Maamobi General Hospital in Accra. He said volunteers reupholstered furniture, repaired beds, and spruced up the hospital environment to make things better for both patients and health workers.
But the real headline is the cash. DOSH Health Insurance, which partnered MTN for the 21 Days of Y'ello Care campaign, put up GH¢1 million to cover medical bills for vulnerable patients across nine health facilities. Head of Sales and Marketing Belinda Amoo said the money will go to people who've completed treatment but are stuck on admission because they can't afford to pay.
“So we decided to provide a cover of 1 million Ghana cedis for all the facilities that they'll be going to. Currently, we are at Maamobi General Hospital and we have about eight other facilities that we'll be visiting. So this 1 million Ghana cedis is going to pay for the medical bills for people who are on admission and they've been discharged, but they're unable to pay for their bills,” Amoo said.
Y'ello Care is MTN's flagship volunteer programme run every year across all its operating markets. Staff donate time, skills, and resources to tackle social problems in their communities. This year, the focus was healthcare infrastructure and financial relief.
Blewett didn't stop at announcing the work. He called out other big companies to follow suit. “You can hear them laughing because it's a fun event because people enjoy giving. I think that as responsible citizens of our country, each big corporate should go out and do this. I mean, I would call them out and say, hey, what can you do? Because if every major corporate in Ghana did this, imagine what our healthcare system will look like as we continue to contribute to it,” he said.
The intervention comes at a time when many public hospitals in Ghana struggle with dilapidated infrastructure and patients being held hostage by unpaid bills. The Maamobi General Hospital, a key facility serving a densely populated area of Accra, has long faced challenges with bed shortages and worn-out equipment.
For patients who'd been languishing on admission long after their treatment ended, the partnership offered a way out. For the hospital, the refurbished beds and furniture mean a better working environment for staff and improved care for patients.
MTN Ghana hasn't said whether it plans to extend the programme to other regions, but the CEO's challenge to other corporates suggests the company sees this as a model that can be replicated across the country.