BOLGA NURSES COLLEGE LACKS INFRASTRUCTURE (D/G Monday, March 2, 2009. PAGE 40)

THE Principal of the Bolgatanga Nurses’ Training College, Mr Moonin Musah, recently expressed his frustration at the inadequate infrastructure which is hampering the training of nurses.
The college is currently being housed in temporary accommodation with limited number of classrooms and other ancillary facilities.
“Well, it appears there is light at the end of the long tunnel. The poor state of infrastructure in the region’s health training schools, which adversely affects effective teaching and learning as well as the quality of nurses trained, will soon be a thing of the past,” Mr Musah stated.
According to the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Koku Awoonor-Williams, the region was working with the ministries of Health and Finance and the Ghana Health Service on a proposal for $6 million Kuwaiti government support to rehabilitate the nurses’ training colleges.
Dr Awoonor-Williams made this known at this year’s annual regional health sector performance review meeting at Bolgatanga.
The regional director expressed the hope that the proposal when approved, would go a long way to enhance the quality of nurses turned out from the training institutions.
He said until then there was the need for the management of nurses’ training institutions to step up discipline among students and improve internal management systems to ensure that the health staff strive to promote the corporate image of the service.
According to Dr Awoonor-Williams, apart from the inadequate infrastructure at the various health facilities, most of the existing structures were poor.
He said there were a number of dilapidated health facilities and residential accommodation, inadequate staff accommodation and several uncompleted capital projects.
Dr Awoonor-Williams cited for instance that Bolgatanga, the regional capital, had no municipal hospital and the current state of the health centre serving the municipality did not befit it status.
He noted with concern that a project started in the late 1970’s to provide a municipal polyclinic for Bolgatanga had been abandoned.
“The lack of a municipal hospital or polyclinic in the area put pressure on the regional hospital,” he said.
The regional director, however, stated that in a bid to address the challenges, his administration had put in place some innovative measures including the renovation of dilapidated staff residential and office accommodation to improve the working and living environments of the staff.
He added that some projects that were unduly delayed had been completed in the Bongo and Garu-Tempane districts and the Bolgatanga Municipality to provide accommodation for the staff.
Dr Awoonor-Willians also mentioned the $12 million Saudi Fund secured for the second phase of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital rehabilitation project.
He expressed his appreciation to the regional coordinating council and the municipal and district assemblies in the region for their continuous support and cooperation towards infrastructure development and general health issues.