By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, March 12, GNA – Mr Alexander Kwasi Acquah, a Deputy Health Minister-Designate, advocated the setting up of clinics at marketplaces as part of efforts to bring healthcare services to the doorstep of the people.
“To have clinics in various markets because a lot of people, normally will not want to take seriously their health; but if you have a facility within the market, it becomes easier for them to check on their health randomly,” he said.
“And so, together with the Ministry of local Government it becomes something that we have to push so hard to bring healthcare to the doorstep of our people.”
“Which is a concept that if you give me the nod, I will partner my Minister, I will strongly advise my Minister for us to look at it.”
The nominee made the suggestion during his vetting at the public sitting of the Appointments Committee of Parliament in Accra.
Mr Acquah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) of Akim Oda, and an investor in hospitals and mortuaries, said his experience with private healthcare delivery and in the hospital business was enough to enable him to support his Minister to implement Government’s policies to improve private participation in healthcare delivery.
Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments Committee, asked Mr Acquah to tell the committee how difficult it was to run a hospital.
“Mr Chairman, it is not too difficult, and it is not too easy, because the initial capital outlay is so much; I was very lucky to have regime that made it easier for some of us to contract loans and so, one hospital after the other, we were able to break even in seven years,” he answered.
“Then it became easier for the banks to have confidence in what we were running and so they came to us to set up some of these facilities at other places.”
He noted that so far, he had set up five hospitals and four mortuaries.
The hospitals are located at Akim Oda and Kokorantumi, both in the Eastern Region, Ashaiman, Ashongman and Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region.
GNA