History

Out of the vision and effort from Mr. Rowland Cowley and Rev. Sr. Aba, OHP the Anglican Eye Clinic was born. The stand-alone Eye Clinic became operationalized in 2002 serving the people of Jachie (where it operates from) in the Bosomtwe District and its environs.

Mr. Rowland Cowley (deceased) Qualified as a Doctor in 1947. After 11 years of surgical and Ophthalmology training, he was appointed consultant Ophthalmologist at North Ridings Infirmary, Middlesbrough in 1961. Rowland Retired from UK practice in 1984. Within six weeks he was working in Ghana. He met Sr. Aba who was training to be a nurse at Agogo Hospital, in 1987. He continued to work with Christian Blind Mission in Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria, Tanzania, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea. He also worked with BCMS (now crosslinks) in India.

Rowland recognized that educating and enabling local expertise would produce the greatest impact and health improvement. In 1999, he was awarded the OBE for services to eye care in developing countries. With a vision to serve the people of Ghana, the Anglican eye Clinic was opened. Until his death in 2017, even in his late 80`s, Rowland still regularly travelled to Ghana to teach and to see patients at Jachie.

Sr. Aba qualified as a nurse in 1988 in Ghana. In 1988, she went to Whitby (UK) to become a religious sister of the Anglican Order of the Holy Paraclete.

After spending three years in South Africa, she returned to Ghana in 1998. She managed a fledgling Ophthalmic department at Battor Hospital with the help of Rowland Cowley.

The Order were offered a site for a convent in Jachie and the Chief of Jachie offered land for the eye Clinic.

Sr. Aba is an experienced clinician. She has both certificates in Tropical Ophthalmology and Diploma in Ophthalmology from Moorfields Eye Hospital. She regularly reviews the most difficult cases at the Hospital. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital.

The facility is under the purview and control of the Anglican Health Ministry, Anglican Diocese of Kumasi, and it’s a member of Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG). The Clinic which started with a staff of 3 can now boast of a staff strength of 38.

With a major enhancement and expansion of its services, enabling the facility to offer Eye surgery, laser treatment, and various diagnostics, the Health Facility Regulatory Authority (HEFRA) officially upgraded the Clinic to Hospital status in 2019 and was officially inaugurated in 2020.

The exceptional quality of services provided, the Anglican Eye Clinic has been recognized as one of the best stand-alone Eye Clinics in Ghana as many people travel from all parts of the country to the facility to be seen and treated.