Assembly puts up Children’s Ward for hospital

Daily Graphic Tuesday, November 20, 2007. Page 20

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku
The Bawku Municipal Assembly has committed GH c 60,000 (c 600 million) towards the construction of a new ward for the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
Similarly, Members of Parliament from the five constituencies in the Bawku area, namely, Bawku Central, Pusiga Polimakom, Binduri, Zebilla and Garu-Tempane, have contributed a total of GH c 2,500 (c25 million) towards the project.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku, Mr. Abdul Rahman Gumah and the MP for Bawku Central, Mr. Mahama Ayariga announced this at Bawku on Saturday during the golden jubilee anniversary of Presbyterian management of the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
The anniversary, on the theme: “50 years of collaborative quality health care delivery: the way forward”, was to offer management and stakeholders the opportunity to thank God for the past 50 years of their stewardship in health care delivery in Bawku. They also mapped out strategies for the years ahead.
Citizens of Bawku from all walks of life, as well as expatiates who have served in the hospital over the years, attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the function, the MCE said though a municipal hospital, the facility lacks and do not receive the adequate support from the government in terms of resources because it was being manage by the Presbyterian Church.
He said the assembly would continue to use all available means to ensure that the necessary resources needed to enable the facility performed optimally for the benefit of the people.
The MP for Bawku Central, Mr. Mahama Ayariga praised the management of the hospital and the Presbyterian Church for their invaluable contribution to the health needs of the people of Bawku.
“Although a mission hospital operating in a predominately non-Christian environment, it has rendered its services without discrimination”, Mr. Ayariga said.
He said he and his colleague MPs in the Bawku area were prepared to constitute themselves into a powerful lobby group to advocate for increased funding for the hospital to enable it meet its obligation to the people.
Mr. Ayariga commended the various individuals including expatriate from Europe and Cuba who have defied all odds to serve the people of Bawku in addressing their health care needs.
He also praised the management of the Hospital for the introduction of the nursing training college which has brought about increase in the training of nurses.
The MP, however urged the authorities to review its admission policy by ensuring that many natives with the requisite qualification were enrolled.
He said further that that would encourage a large number of the nurses to stay back and serve their people since they better understood the needs of the people.
Mr. Ayariga stated that Bawku was now peaceful and debunked assertions that the area was conflict prone, stressing that the era of conflict has been relegated to the pages of history.
He warned that anybody who does anything to disturb the peace currently existing in the municipality will be dealt with by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.