The University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospitals Complex (USLTHC) has celebrated its 10th anniversary, reflecting on a decade of achievements in medical training and healthcare delivery. The milestone event provided an opportunity to review the institution’s journey, highlighting successes, challenges, and ambitions for the future.
Outgoing Chairperson, Dr. Sonia Spencer, acknowledged the difficulties faced at the outset but emphasized the remarkable progress achieved over the years. “From scratch, we have trained 30 specialists and five consultants,” she said, noting the institution’s transformative impact on Sierra Leone’s medical landscape.
Dr. Spencer highlighted that before the establishment of USLTHC in 2016, Sierra Leone had no neurosurgery services. Today, neurosurgical procedures are being performed at Connaught Hospital, thanks to partnerships such as Mission Brain, which sponsored two Sierra Leonean doctors to study neurosurgery in Morocco.
Significant strides have also been made in psychiatric care. For decades, Sierra Leone had only one trained psychiatrist, Dr. Naim, at Kissy Psychiatric Hospital. Today, nine doctors are undergoing specialist training to expand mental health services nationwide.
The country’s pathology services, long limited, are also seeing progress. Currently, Sierra Leone has only one pathologist, Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma. Two additional pathologists are being trained locally to support him, providing services to more than 40 hospitals nationwide. Furthermore, two more Sierra Leoneans are undergoing pathology training in Nigeria and will return in two years to join efforts in training more specialists.
Dr. Spencer praised the government’s support and encouraged Sierra Leoneans to trust the medical sector, noting that the country now boasts a growing pool of trained and qualified doctors capable of meeting national healthcare needs.
The USLTHC anniversary celebration served as both a reflection on a decade of growth and a statement of confidence in Sierra Leone’s medical future, signaling that the country is steadily building capacity to provide world-class healthcare services.