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The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) inaugurated the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM) Chapter of its Alumni Association to foster alumni engagement and institutional development. The ceremony was held at SONAM on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
The Global President of UHAS Alumni Association, Mr. Gabriel Agbanyo, in his welcome address pledged to ensure that UHAS Alumni remains an integral part of the UHAS community. He paid a glowing tribute to the Foundation Dean of SONAM, Dr. Gameli K. Norgbe, for his remarkable role in the establishment of the School.
Mr. Agbanyo hinted that his tenure has so far assisted in establishing schools and international chapters in the United Kingdom, North America and Saudi Arabia. He charged the foundation executives of the SONAM Chapter to work hard to foster collaborations and advance the objectives of the Global UHAS Alumni Association.
In his acceptance speech as the Chairman for the event, the Dean of SONAM, Professor Peter Adatara, expressed great appreciation to the foundation staff of UHAS, especially Dr. Gameli K. Norgbe, who he said worked hard to ensure that he became the first lecturer to report at SONAM.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Lydia Aziato, in her remarks commended SONAM’s remarkable growth from its initial enrolment of 50 students to the over 4,650 current enrolment.
She urged the Alumni Association to support UHAS through scholarships for needy but brilliant students, infrastructural projects and mentorship initiatives.
Professor Aziato highlighted the importance of a strong alumni network in advancing professional development and continuous learning to keep up with the pace of evolving healthcare practices.
The Foundation Dean of SONAM, Dr. Gameli Kwame Norgbe was the Keynote Speaker for the event. In his speech, he recounted his initial experience as part of the 19-member taskforce commissioned by the late President of Ghana, Professor John Evans Atta Mills to establish UHAS (Ho and Hohoe) and University of Energy and Natural Resources (Sunyani).
He related that upon submitting the final report, he was again called upon to be part of the team to implement the recommendations in the report, so together with Emeritus Professor Fred N. Binka, they set out to establish UHAS.
Dr. Norgbe made a very profound statement that though most of the foundation staff of UHAS came from University of Ghana, ‘We did not set out to establish another Legon’. UHAS, he said, was intentioned from the outset to be a unique specialised university that others would learn from.
According to him, UHAS is envisioned to be a practically oriented health educational institution dedicated to community service and research.
He emphasized that the Vocational Training flagship programme is an expression of UHAS values and earnestly called on the current and future managers of UHAS to keep their eyes on practical and professional training which he believes set UHAS graduates apart from other graduates.
Dr. Norgbe admonished healthcare practitioners to be intentional about customer care by seeing persons who access their services as ‘clients’ and not just ‘patients’.
He ended his speech by calling on all UHAS alumni to get involved in the activities of the Association to enhance their own professional development and the development of UHAS in general.
The foundation executives of the newly inaugurated UHAS Alumni SONAM Chapter were sworn into their respective offices by the Global President of UHAS Alumni Association, Mr. Gabriel Agbanyo.
The foundation President, Mr. Obed Kweku Amenyo, on behalf of the other executives, pledged to strengthen the UHAS alumni bonds through mentorship, professional development programmes and institutional support.
Other members of the executive committee are Ms. Rhodaline Pleasure (First Vice President), Ms. Bernice Dzivenu (Second Vice President), Ms. Mary Adaeze Udeoha (Secretary), Mr. Fabian Etse Normenyo (Financial Secretary), and Mr. Julius Okine (Organizer).
The executives of the SONAM Chapter presented a citation to Dr. Norgbe for his contributions towards the establishment of SONAM.
The Registrar of UHAS, Ms. Yaa Amankwaa Opuni, among other things, urged the foundation executives of the newly inaugurated Chapter to uphold the University’s core values of Excellence, Integrity, and Service & Care while ensuring continuous collaboration between UHAS Alumni and the University.
The UHAS Alumni SONAM Chapter is the second School Chapter to be inaugurated within the University after the UHAS Alumni FNBSPH Chapter, which was inaugurated last year.
With the inauguration of the alumni association in the two largest schools in the University, UHAS is poised to strengthen its Alumni network as well as create lasting benefits for both the University and its alumni.