Help Bawku Hospital to become centre of Excellence

Daily Graphic Tuesday, November 20, 2007. Page 20

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku
THE MANAGEMENT of the Northern Presbyterian Health Services has renewed its appeal to the government and other stakeholders to be more committed and supportive of its resolve to making the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital a centre of excellence in healthcare delivery.
It said, “Since the hospital was constructed over 50 years ago, it has never seen any serious renovation except piece meal approach to painting the buildings.
“Another major challenge is the use of obsolete equipment such as anesthetic machines, distilling plants among others, which frequently break down”, the Management stated.
The Acting General Manager of the Northern Presbytery Health Services, Mr. John Abugri made the appeal at a special durbar to climax the hospital’s golden jubilee anniversary, which was on the theme: “Fifty years of collaborative quality health care delivery, the way forward”.
He said by virtue of its location, the hospital serves as a ‘sub-regional hospital’, because apart from attending to the health needs of the people of Bawku area and providing some specialist services to the entire Region, it also provides healthcare assistance to neighbors in Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
Mr. Abugri said accommodation for doctors and other critical staff was also a big problem facing management and limit its efforts to engage more doctors and others critical staff., adding that bed capacity was also becoming inadequate.
He noted that after 50 years of existence, the hospital cannot boast of an administrative block, or a conference hall for in-service training and meetings. This has compelled managers to scatter in various rooms, some of which do not befit the status of an office.
The Acting General Manger observed that another area of concern to management was the collapsing fence wall, which has made security of property, and sometimes staff uncertain.
According to Mr. Abugri, in spite of the numerous problems, the hospital according to Mr. Abugri, has chalked many success in the areas of health care delivery and human resource development through the establishment of Bawku Nurses Training School and introduction of proactive human resource development policy through which staff were sponsored for further studies either locally or abroad.
“Guided by the policy of comprehensive healthcare, the hospital has over the years demonstrated this in various respects. Its services have been varied and extensive in coverage. These include specialist services such as eye care, orthopedics, physiotherapy, dental care, psychiatry and audiology, in addition to the general medical care and public health activities”, he said.
Mr. Abugri stated that bio-statistics of the hospital has within the past five years recorded a total of 505,304 out patient attendance and 92,573 admissions, 9,474 deliveries with 15,876 operations.
He said the number of eye patients during the same period was 98,726 out of which 12,445 underwent surgery to restore their sights, to mention a few.
Mr. Abugri stated that malaria was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Bawku area.
He mentioned that out of the total number of out-patients attendance within the past five years, malaria cases accounted for 20 per cent of attendance, 40 per cent admissions and 22 per cent of all deaths.
He outlined a number of projects the hospital intended to execute as part of the church’s three-year health plan between 2007 and 2009. They included the construction of a modern operation theatre, a two-storey administrative block/conference hall as a jubilee project, refurbishment of the water and sanitation system as well as the pharmacy unit to produce some medicines locally.
The Minister of Health, Major (Rtd) Courage Quashiegah in a speech read on his behalf commended the management of Northern Presbyterian health Services and the staff of the Bawku Hospital as well as the Presbyterian Church for doing their best to maintain the hospital since it took over five decades ago.
“The government is very appreciative of what the churches are doing in education, health and other social services which the government alone could not have provided especially in the rural areas”, he said
Major Quashiegah commended the hospital authorities for implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme which had brought about increase in hospital attendance and urged all who matter to spread the good news of the scheme and to take advantage by enrolling in it.
He said health care was key to development and the Ministry would do everything possible to address the challenges enumerated to enhance health care delivery.
The health minister appealed to the people of Bawku to see the hospital as their property and contribute towards its sustenance.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong- Manso in a speech read on his behalf by the Chairman of the Northern Presbytery Rev. Kwesi Addai-Naami said although the prime objective of Christianity is to win souls for Christ that can not be done without taking care o fthe social needs of the people.
“A rotten and unhealthy body may not be safe haven for the soul. Therefore it behoves all of us to remind ourselves about the dangers of sickness such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases which constitute a great threat to our society”, he advised.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Alhassan Samari, who was represented by the Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku, Mr. Abdul Rahman Gumah and the MP for Bawku Central, Mr. Mahama Ayariga all commended the management of the hospital and the Presbyterian Church for their contribution to the well being of the people.