Apam (C/R), March 7, GNA - The Apam Catholic Hospital at the weekend celebrated 50 years of its establishment with the renaming of the facility as St Luke's Catholic Hospital.

The Archbishop of Cape Coast, Most Reverend Mathias Kobina Nketsiah renamed the hospital in response to the popular request by the Apam Catholi= c community and the hospital staff. Archbishop Nketsiah urged health workers to bear in mind that they wer= e participating in the healing ministry of the Lord Jesus and should therefor= e be motivated to give out their best.

He advised them to shun money consciousness, arrogance and exhibiting traits inimical to the healing ministry. Archbishop Nketsiah said the church's involvement in health delivery was to compliment government's efforts, and thanked the State for years o= f active participation to promote the medical well being of the citizenry. He mentioned irregular refund of National Health Insurance Scheme claims and unfair distribution of health personnel as some of the challenge= s the government must address. Dr Elias Sory, Director- General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), expressed regret that communicable diseases were on the increase in the country. "We do not expect to be talking about a disease like cholera at this time of our age but unfortunately it is still with us," he said and appea= led to the government and donor partners to make potable water accessible to th= e people to curb the situation.

Dr Sory appealed to the authorities of health facilities to promote nutrition in addition to maternal healthcare in order to facilitate the physical and mental wellbeing of children. He asked the donor community to expand their support base to the medical centres by including modern technologies to boost health delivery i= n the developing countries. The GHS Director-General said he was in contact with some experts in Macro Surgery in America for the technology to be transferred to Ghana. Macro surgery among other interventions calls for 93cutting current= " with peak voltages to 1,200 volts or a 93blending current" with peak-to-= peak voltage of up to 2,000 volts. Using a lancet or knife electrode, the surgeon obtains good cutting with capillary haemostasis. Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Central Regional Minister said the collaboration with the Gomoa West District Assembly had gone a long way to improve health delivery in the area.

She urged nurses to work with smiles on their faces even when under difficult conditions as stern faces worsened the plight of the sick. The Regional Minister appealed to the people of the region to control child birth as larger families bred poverty. She urged parents to take good care of their children, especially thei= r daughters to prevent them from getting pregnant whilst in school. The Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ebenezer Amekah mentioned perennial water supply, erratic supply of electricity, inadequate residential accommodation and transport system as problems confronting the medical facility.

He said the proximity of the hospital to the sea also made maintenance of equipment and infrastructure very expensive. He paid tribute to the late Dr Charles Ntiamoah Takyi who worked at th= e hospital from 1985-2005 for raising the image of the facility. Obrifo Ahunako Ahor Ankobea II, Paramount Chief of Gomoa Akyempim who chaired the function appealed to the Catholic Church to re-establish a nursing training college which was phased out in 1984 to arrest the shortag= e of the personnel in the country, pledging land for the project. The week-long anniversary was on the theme: 9350 years of Rural Healt= h Service Delivery 96 Achievements and Challenges."