By Emelia B. Addae
Koforidua, April 25, GNA – The Parliamentary Select Committee on Health has assessed the Koforidua Regional Hospital as part of a nationwide evaluation of regional and teaching hospitals to identify key challenges and propose solutions to improve health service delivery.
The visit, which forms part of a four-day nationwide tour, is an integral component of a broader survey aimed at pinpointing operational challenges and developing strategic recommendations to enhance health sector performance.
During the visit to the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, a delegation led by Dr. Thomas Winsum Anabah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Garu Constituency and a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, acknowledged the hospital’s achievements in its operations.
He commended the hospital’s efficiency and urged other healthcare institutions to emulate its best practices to improve healthcare delivery nationwide.
The hospital has made strides in infrastructural development, healthcare delivery, and facelift of the facility with support from its Internally Generated Fund (IGF), corporate bodies, donors, and staff.
It has also refurbished its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), physiotherapy, pharmacy, bungalows, and provided a dialysis center with free services.
Others were the research center established to organise annual scientific forum for staff, and outreach programmes at peripheral health centers where medical doctors provide services such as surgery and screening to patients.
Dr. Anabah advised that the various regional hospitals that wanted to implement such noble initiatives should laisse with the Eastern Regional Hospital to adopt their strategies and skills.
Regarding key challenges faced by the hospital and recommendations made, he assured them of addressing the needs before parliament to guide parliamentary oversight and inform national health policy.
The assessment identified high staff attrition and a lack of essential medical equipment, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Mammogram, Electrocardiogram, and Laparoscopy machines, as key challenges facing the hospital.
To address these issues, it was recommended that more critical staff be recruited to strengthen the workforce, while retooling the hospital with advanced medical equipment would significantly enhance healthcare delivery and improve the health status of people in the region.
Hospital management called for a review of health staff remuneration, emphasizing that better compensation would help curb the high attrition rate of critical personnel seeking opportunities abroad.
Also, it recommended the immediate engagement of doctors post-housemanship training to prevent prolonged idle periods, which often lead them to pursue foreign entrance examinations.
Retaining more trained professionals would ensure that the country benefits from the investment made in their education and training.
Dr. Arko Akoto-Ampaw, Medical Director at the Eastern Regional Hospital, appealed for the completion of the new Regional Hospital to help improve acute care and referral services.
“The current 429 bed capacity at the hospital is full and the utilisation is beyond 93 percent, but we strive to deliver services to patients so if the new regional hospital with 600 bed capacity is completed it will enhance operational efficiency,” he said.
He appealed for an ambulance for the regional hospital and said if that was provided it would serve as reliable medical transportation in times of emergency to the sick and the injured.
The Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua was established in 1926, and it is a secondary level referral facility for the entire eastern region and is also a Municipal Hospital for the New Juaben South Municipality.
Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health who visited the Hospital were Dr. Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, MP for Keta Constituency, Mr. Alexander Akwasi Acquah, MP for Akim Oda Constituency, Dr. Ebenezer Prince Arhin, MP for Mfantseman Constituency, Mr. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze, MP for Central Tongu Constituency, and Dr. Mohammed Sherrif Abdul-Khaliq, MP for Nanton constituency.
GNA
DL/CA