By Kingsley Mamore
Dambai (O/R) Sept 14, GNA – Dr Sonlaar Joseph, the Medical Superintendent of the Evangelical Church of Ghana (ECG) Hospital at Dambai, has appealed to the Oti Regional Directorate of Health Services (RDHS) to second some health professionals from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to the facility to augment its workforce.
He said the hospital currently relied heavily on internally generated funds (IGF) to engage qualified health professionals to man critical departments and units.
Dr Sonlaar made the appeal during the official inauguration of the hospital, located at the Israel community in Dambai.
He said apart from a few staff seconded from the Evangelical Church of Ghana, Kpandai, who were serving as government employees, more than 50 per cent of the hospital’s workforce was currently being paid through IGF.
He said the IGF-funded personnel were providing essential services in various departments, including the dispensary, accounts, laboratory and wards, among others.
According to Dr Sonlaar, most of the professionals engaged under the IGF arrangement were qualified health workers awaiting government clearance and posting.
He explained that the situation placed a significant financial burden on the hospital, as management had to mobilise additional resources to maintain adequate staffing and provide quality healthcare services to the people.
Dr Sonlaar, therefore, appealed to the RDHS, through the Municipal Directorate of Health Services (MDHS), to consider seconding some GHS staff to the hospital to strengthen its human resource capacity.
He also appealed to the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) to consider creating special placement opportunities for some of the IGF-funded staff to enable them to be absorbed under a more sustainable arrangement.
He said such support would reduce the hospital’s wage burden and enable management to channel more of its limited internally generated resources into other pressing needs, including infrastructure, medical equipment and essential healthcare services.
Dr Sonlaar said strengthening the hospital’s staffing capacity was critical to sustaining efficient service delivery and ensuring that residents of Dambai and surrounding communities had access to quality healthcare without travelling long distances for basic and specialised services.
He expressed confidence that stronger collaboration among the GHS, CHAG and ECG would help address the staffing challenges and enable the hospital to fulfil its healthcare mandate.
Dr Kofi Amo-Kodieh, the Oti Regional Director of Health Services, said it was a privilege for the Directorate to have the ECG establish a hospital in the region to complement government efforts in healthcare delivery.
He commended the ECG for investing in healthcare infrastructure and expressed the Directorate’s readiness to collaborate with the hospital to improve healthcare delivery in the region.
Dr Amo-Kodieh urged the hospital’s management to maintain accurate and comprehensive data and records on its operations and collaborate closely with the Municipal Health Directorate.
He said effective data management and coordination with the Municipal Health Directorate would facilitate the preparation of comprehensive reports for submission to the Regional Health Directorate, the GHS and the Ministry of Health.
Dr Amo-Kodieh also urged the hospital to consider participating in the government’s Free Primary Healthcare programme in the region to broaden access to essential healthcare services.
He said the hospital’s participation would complement government efforts and contribute to improving access to quality and affordable primary healthcare for residents of Dambai and surrounding communities.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Benjamin Mensah