Ho, June 8, GNA - Ho Polyclinic is seeking financial assistance to build a 40-bed capacity ward, Mr Emmanuel Kwame Amoaku, Administrator of th= e Polyclinic, has said. The facility will enable the polyclinic to render in-patient services and offer clinicians the opportunity to monitor clients closely and assess medication compliance and recovery rates. Mr Amoaku told the GNA in an interview that the Polyclinic, which was established some 85 years ago as Leprosarium Hospital, is now rendering medical services to the public and needed to expand its facilities. He said since the Ministry of Health changed the facility from a Leprosarium Hospital into a polyclinic in 1996, it has been rendering other health services with the 93Leprosarium Hospital infrastructure." "Apart from expanding the Out Patients' Department (OPD) and the construction of additional consulting rooms last four years with our internally generated fund, we have not seen any major renovation or expansion," Mr Amoaku said.

He said currently, the Polyclinic averagely attends to 200 patients daily apart from leprosy cases. Mr Amoaku said because the Polyclinic accepts health insurance its clientele kept increasing against the limited infrastructure. He said though many clients were calling for a 24-hour service, that could not be met due to staff constraints. Mr Amoaku said the Polyclinic hoped to get a well functioning efficien= t and effective general ward by 2014 with state of the art equipment to achieve its target of being the leading healthcare institution in the Volta Region. He said the Polyclinic would introduce eye clinic and maternity unit soon in addition to immunization, family planning, ante-natal and HIV testing. Mr Amoaku appealed to individuals, corporate institutions and investors to support the Polyclinic. Some patients who spoke to the GNA said expansion of the Polyclinic wa= s overdue in view of its increasing clientele. They said O.P.D, which was expanded in 2007, is still too small and appealed to the government to support the Facility. Esenam Atorvor, a Trader from Ziope in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, said 93I like this place. They treat me well, so if they have a ward, it w= ill be good for us. We travel from very far for review every week."