General News of Thursday, 14 February 2019

Source: Danso Abiam

'Please come to our aid' - Presbyterian Minister appeals to First Lady

Rev. Henry Nti-Boakye said the hospital needs a face-lift Rev. Henry Nti-Boakye said the hospital needs a face-lift

Minister in charge of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Grace Congregation, Kpone Haanna, Rev. Henry Nti-Boakye has made a passionate appeal to the Rebecca Akufo-addo Foundation headed by the First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akuffo-Addo, and other stakeholders to come to the aid of the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Health facility.

The only biggest public health facility in the municipality has not witnessed any major infrastructural development and expansion since its establishment about 22 years ago.

Rev. Nti-Boakye made the appeal when the Grace Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Kpone Haana, embarked on a massive clean up exercise at the facility and also presented two sets of waiting chairs and toiletries to the management of the health facility.

Management of Kpone Health Centre in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality also added their voice to the passionate appeal to the government, corporate bodies and philanthropists to come to the aid of the facility.

Senior Administration Officer of the facility, Mr. David Dotse told the press that the health facility, which is supposed to be the first port of seeking medical care by about the 120,000 population of people in the municipality and runs an Out Patient Service of about 120/130 patients daily, lacks the needed infrastructure.

This, Mr. Dotse said, made the facility ineffective in providing some of its critical services much to the disappointment of the people who are, sometimes, compelled to seek medical care elsewhere.

Mr. Dotse also noted that, the facility needed to be upgraded to a polyclinic status with an eye unit, ear and throat (E&T) unit, dental unit and a fence wall around the 7-acre land to prevent encroachment.

According to him, the facility has no children's ward and so had to combine children with females with only five beds in the ward.

"The male ward also has four beds so, sometimes, when we are overwhelmed, we even bring males into the female ward or improvise beds on the corridors for patients to enable them access health care," he explained.

He bemoaned the pitiful moments when expectant mothers had to be transported in taxis to the Tema General Hospital on referral due to the lack of a delivery theater and even an ambulance.

Minister in Charge of the Grace Congregation-(PCG) Rev. Henry Nti-Boakye said the clean up exercise was borne out their engagement with the management of the facility on what their needs were and what they could also do to contribute to the health safety of patients.

"Management told us that their major concern was getting people cleaners because they lacked cleaners. So, as a church, web decided to help," he said in an interview.

The entire gesture also formed part of the prelude to the commencement of their 20th Anniversary celebrations slated for March 31, 2019.

He admonished Christians to back their faith with action by practising good personal and environmental hygiene, visiting hospitals for check up instead of always reposing their trust in God for healing.