By Benjamin A. Commey
Amasaman (GAR), Sept. 24, GNA — The Ga West Municipal Hospital at Amasaman has appealed to benevolent organisations to assist the hospital to acquire a state-of-the-art emergency equipment to boost healthcare delivery.
Dr Eric Sarpong-Ntiamoah, the Medical Superintendent at the Hospital, who made the appeal, said the facility was bedeviled with many challenges, key among which was the absence of a state-of-the-art equipment at its Emergency Unit to take care of emergency cases.
Speaking at the commissioning of a 200KVA dedicated transformer by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for the hospital, on Friday, Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah said the situation was hampering the delivery of quality healthcare and called on government and benevolent organisations to come to the aid of the hospital.
The transformer, installed by the ECG Accra West Region, at a cost of GH¢200,000, is to provide constant and reliable power supply to the hospital.
The Ga West Municipal Hospital was established in 1984 as a health centre. However, in 2008, the facility was transformed into a municipal hospital.
Currently, the hospital serves a population of more than 200,000 in the Ga West Municipality and adjoining municipalities.
On average, it serves 72,000 outpatients and 8,500 inpatients annually.
The Emergency Unit also sees more than 6,000 patients annually, averaging more than 16 patients daily and remains the only and highest referral facility in the Ga West Municipality.
Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah explained that the transformation of the facility from a health centre to a municipal hospital was not accompanied by the prerequisite infrastructure as expected.
The Medical Superintendent said, as a result, the hospital was currently confronted with many challenges, including limited space for maternal cases admission (pre and post-delivery and labor ward), inadequate facilities such as delivery beds for admission and deliveries, limited rooms for health services (consultation room, office, nutrition and public health education room), and limited space for antenatal clinics.
He added that the lack of state-of-the-art equipment at the Emergency Unit, wards, theatre and theatre recovery as well as inadequate equipment to carry out some lab test, denied the community access to quality healthcare.
“This serious infrastructure deficit compromises quality of care delivered to our cherished clients,” he said, adding that: “Addressing these challenges is fundamental to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3—good health and well-being) in Ghana.”
Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah commended the ECG for solving one of the hospital’s age-old challenges with the provision of a dedicated transformer.
He disclosed that, since January this year, the hospital had spent over GH¢40,000 on fuel to power its 100KVA generator to ensure stable power supply.
“This amount could have been channeled into purchasing equipment or medicines thus aiding in the provision of quality care,” he bemoaned.
Mr Ebenezer Ghunney, the General Manager, ECG Accra West Region, said the installation of the dedicated 200KVA transformer to the Hospital would help provide reliable power supply to the facility to enhance healthcare delivery.
Prior to the installation of the dedicated transformer, the hospital relied on the only transformer that served the community and a 100KVA generator, resulting in frequent power trips to the hospital, including critical units such as the neo natal intensive care, theatre emergency unit, the laboratory and the records.
Mr Ghunney said: “The installation of this dedicated 200kVA transformer to the Ga West Municipal hospital is, therefore, a means of improving power supply and reliability to this facility, and in our own small way, ensure that the provision of healthcare to the people and patrons of this hospital is not jeopardized.”
He assured of the company’s commitment to providing quality, reliable and safe power supply to Ghanaians.
Dr Margaretta Gloria Chandi, Municipal Director of Health Services, Ga West, assured management of the ECG that the hospital would do all it could to maintain the property.
GNA