GBARNGA, Bong County— A newly established private health facility in Gbarnga is moving to expand access to advanced medical services in Bong County after taking delivery of a container-load of medical equipment valued at about US$250,000.
By Rancy Clarke
The New Hope Health Center, a 22-bed facility established by Liberian couple Dr. James Labala and Dr. Anna Kaydor Labala, says the new equipment will enable it to introduce critical diagnostic and treatment services that have been largely unavailable to residents of the county.
The consignment, which arrived in Liberia in July, includes computerized hospital beds, ultrasound machines, a baby warmer, a chemistry analyzer and a range of laboratory equipment.
However, Dr. James Labala said bureaucratic delays and high customs duties kept the shipment at the Free Port of Monrovia for nearly a month before the facility could secure its release.
According to him, the health center was forced to pay nearly half of the value of the equipment in duties and related charges before the materials could be cleared.
Speaking in an interview with The Liberian Investigator over the weekend, Dr. Labala said the facility began providing partial services in July as it awaited the arrival and installation of the additional equipment.
Those services currently include malaria testing, hemoglobin testing, skin-snip examinations, typhoid testing, H. pylori testing, syphilis testing, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, complete urinalysis, liver and kidney function tests, and lipid-profile testing.
Dr. Labala said the establishment of the facility was inspired partly by the couple’s exposure to the healthcare system in the United States, where they pursued graduate studies.
“We went to graduate school in America, and I particularly worked at one of the hospitals there because I did chaplaincy. What we saw was way far different from what is in Liberia,” he said.
He said the couple decided to establish the health center as part of their broader commitment to humanitarian service and their Christian ministry, with the goal of improving healthcare delivery in Bong County.
“We want this health facility to be comfortable and affordable. We want to put human lives first. Our patients will be our first priority,” Dr. Labala said.
The facility’s management is banking on the expanded services to attract patients who would otherwise travel outside Bong County or Liberia to seek specialized medical care.
Dr. Labala expressed confidence that the center could eventually attract members of Liberia’s elite, including lawmakers, by offering services comparable to those available in the United States.
“We want to provide the kind of services that people travel abroad to seek,” he indicated.
Beyond healthcare delivery, Dr. Labala said the facility is also contributing to employment creation by ensuring that its workforce is Liberian.
He said the health center has empowered Liberians through employment opportunities as part of its effort to contribute to addressing the country’s unemployment challenge.
The New Hope Health Center is also incorporating preventive healthcare into its operations.
Dr. Labala said the facility has begun nutrition-awareness activities aimed at educating residents about their eating habits and the potential health consequences of consuming certain foods, particularly some imported food products.
He said the initiative is intended to shift attention from treating illnesses to preventing them by helping residents make informed decisions about what they consume.
With the arrival of the new equipment, the health center is expected to transition from its initial limited operations into a broader range of diagnostic and clinical services, potentially reducing the need for residents of Bong County to travel elsewhere for medical care.
