“We’re No Longer Starting From Zero” – MEDREX Coordinator Highlights Gains in US-Ghana Medical Partnership

After years of joint training at the 37th Military Hospital, the Ghana-US Medical Readiness Exercise (MEDREX) is moving beyond basic collaboration to a point where both teams can operate seamlessly together, says Commander Aggrey Orleans, a member of the MEDREX coordination team.

“The first aim is to ensure operational readiness for both the Ghanaians and the US counterparts,” Commander Orleans explained. “The second is interoperability — so that Ghanaian and US medical personnel can work in each other’s systems seamlessly. And the third is mutual development, where both sides exchange best practices and become better.”

This year’s iteration, he said, has shown significant progress in all three areas.

“We’ve achieved our aims to a very large extent this year, and the evidence is in the depth of interaction from day one,” he said. “We’re exchanging more ideas, involving each other more, and picking up best practices. I believe they’re also learning quite a few things, especially how to function in a resource-limited environment.”

*From Warm-Up to Immediate Integration*

One of the most notable changes this year, according to Commander Orleans, is how quickly the two teams have gelled.

“This year was faster,” he said. “It usually takes time for both parties to warm up to each other. But from day one, we gelled very well and started exchanging ideas and practices. Both sides have learned how to incorporate the other into their system more easily.”

He attributed the improvement to continuity and experience built over previous years of the exercise.

“Interoperability is now at a point where we don’t have to start from zero,” he said. “Every year, we’re understanding each other’s systems, each other’s language, each other’s protocols. Medicine is universal, but we all have different systems and practices. By and large, we’re getting closer to how we both operate. We’re having similar systems now.”

Beyond the Work: Building Enduring Friendships

For Commander Orleans, one of the most important outcomes of MEDREX is the personal relationships formed between Ghanaian and US medical personnel.

“The key takeaway from the Ghanaian perspective is that there’s always a better way, and it’s good to collaborate with those who have run more efficient systems,” he said. “But beyond the work is knowing your counterparts personally. That’s one key thing MEDREX has taught most of us.”

He noted that many of the bonds formed during the exercise have lasted for years.

“Beyond knowing that people from the US medical corps are coming down, if you know them personally, there’s better interaction,” he said. “The friendships we build now go beyond the particular exercise. I’m still in touch with people who were here five or even six years ago. These are enduring friendships.”

A Platform for Mutual Growth

MEDREX, planned and executed by the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), brings together medical professionals from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Dental Health Activity–Rheinland Pfalz, and the North Dakota National Guard with Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF) personnel at the 37th Military Hospital.

The teams are working collaboratively across specialties including obstetrics and gynecology, trauma and general surgery, critical and intensive care, anesthesia, emergency care, biomedical technology, and dental services.

For US personnel, the exercise provides critical exposure to trauma cases and resource-constrained environments that are less common in their home facilities. For Ghanaian staff, it offers access to new protocols, technologies, and approaches to care.

Commander Orleans said the long-term impact of MEDREX is evident in the way both teams now approach medical operations.

“I think there’s one success we’ve built over the years,” he said. “We’ve learned to work together in a way that makes us both stronger and more ready for any environment.”

As MEDREX 2026 continues in Accra, officials say the exercise is not only strengthening medical readiness for large-scale operations but also laying the foundation for a lasting partnership between Ghana and the United States.