An annex of the Dogta-Lafiè hospital at Résidence Renaissance

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Extract from the article: Seven months after its inauguration, the Dogta-Lafiè Hospital (HDL) is getting closer to patients by opening an annex at the Résidence Renaissance (Lomé). The annex was inaugurated on Friday 01 December 2023 in the presence of Jean-Marie Koffi Ewono

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Seven months after its inauguration, the Dogta-Lafiè Hospital (HDL) is getting closer to patients by opening an annex at the Résidence Renaissance (Lomé).  The annex was inaugurated on Friday 01 December 2023 in the presence of Jean-Marie Koffi Ewonoulé Tessi, Minister for Universal Access to Health Care, and Ingrid Awadé, Director General of the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale du Togo (CNSS/Togo).

Today, Dogta-Lafiè Hospital is at the top of the pyramid of health facilities in Togo. As a level 4 referral hospital, it is unable to receive all types of patients, so the Société de Gestion Hospitalière (SOGEHP) has seen fit to allow patients whose state of health does not require very high-level care to have access to quality care in their immediate environment. According to Ingrid Awadé, Managing Director of the CNSS, the aim is to provide the population with quality, local care. « It's important to bring health and care services closer to the people, to relieve congestion at the HDL referral hospital. It's a good thing that the surrounding neighbourhoods, including Wuiti, Forever and Hedzranawoe, are close to the healthcare services. This annex is a complement, because in this centre we also have specialised services that will ensure efficient and effective patient care », she stresses.

A project to improve the quality of healthcare

The annex offers 16 specialities (general medicine, cardiology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, etc.), and the centre will provide emergency care; the most serious cases will be treated by specialists at the HDL or another hospital.

The opening of this establishment is a response to 3 needs: to offer multidisciplinary care to the population of the Résidence du Bénin, the Cité Millénium, the Résidence Renaissance and the residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods; to improve the quality and safety of care; to offer optimal working conditions to users.The facility covers a total usable area of 1,200m² and is spread over 2 levels (ground floor and first floor). The ground floor houses: A 160m² pharmacy, a 180m² laboratory block comprising a lab manager's office, 02 sampling rooms, 01 gynaecological sampling room, 01 bacteriology room and 02 haematology rooms.

The project, supported by the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale (CNSS), is the culmination of 2 years' work, the fruit of intense collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders. The laboratory is equipped with: an automated immunoserology machine, an automated haematology machine, an automated biochemistry machine, an automated ionogram machine, a centrifuge, a shaker, an RMB rhesuscope and 02 water baths. On the first floor, there is a dental surgery (70m²), equipped with a dental chair, a retro-alveolar X-ray, a panoramic X-ray and a sterilisation room, an ophthalmologist's surgery (80m²), equipped with an ophthalmology consultation unit, a laser device and a NIDEK mirror for OCT analyses. These 02 NIDEK mirants are the very first to be installed in Africa.  There is also a General Medicine department (230m²) comprising: a general practitioner's office, a paediatric ward, 02 cardiology offices, 01 observation room for children, 01 observation room for adults, medical eyewear, 01 technical room with 2 autoclaves.

The communal area includes a large reception hall (60m²) that can accommodate 30 people, and a common room (45m²) that can be used for meetings or other activities.To meet the need to protect the environment, in the medium term the establishment will adopt a sustainable development approach by installing solar panels on the roof.

« This is a fine illustration of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) strongly promoted by the Head of State as part of the financing of our country's various development projects ...I have no doubt that it will be put to good use, and that it will have a positive impact on the quality of health care in our country, which is essential for the implementation of Universal Health Insurance, of which the CNSS is one of the management bodies designated by the Government », said Agui Palanga, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the CNSS.

For Pr Etienne Ayité, Chairman of the Dogta Lafiè medical committee, « we can only hope that, in the years to come, this fine initiative, offering quality care in an ideal setting and at a reasonable cost, will be replicated elsewhere in Lomé and in other major towns in our country ».

This centre is an integral part of a harmonious and structured series of extensions to Dogta Lafie that are also planned for Blitta and Kara. In Blitta, it will be an outpost comprising an oxygen production unit, a radiology department with scanner, standard radio, ultrasound and a remote medicine unit.In Kara, it will be an outpost with a scanner, an MRI, an ultrasound scanner, a laboratory, an ophthalmology room and a haemodialysis room.

William O.