Health News of Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Source: GNA

Two Hospitals in Cape Coast receive assistance

The Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital and the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital have benefitted from various projects to aid their operations from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Psychiatric Hospital received assorted medical equipment and non-drug medical consumables, which included electric suction machines, pressure steam sterilizers, Foley catheters, sphygmomanometers, syringes, needles, plasters and cotton wool with other sanitary wares.

Additionally, it received two water storage tank systems, laundry equipment, while a female ward was refurbished female.

For its part, the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital had two of their wards; the Delivery Suite and the Obstetrics and Gynaecology wards refurbished, with their roofing fixed and three new sinks installed.

Handing over the projects at the weekend, Elder Ben Davies, the representative of the Church, said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had since its inception sought to care for the poor and the needy in society.

He said it was in view of this that the Latter Day Saints (LDS) Charities was established in 1996 to enhance the Church’s involvement in relief and development activities throughout the world.

So far, he said, 40 communities in the Central Region had benefitted from various projects.

Elder Davies said the project at the Ankaful Hospital was initiated by Mrs. Adiza Nelson, a nurse at the medical facility, and a member of the Church, who appealed to the LDS Charities to help rehabilitate the Aggrey Ward, which was in an appalling state.

The LDS Charities, he said, accepted to refurbish the ward, together with the other projects, when they discovered that the medical facility was facing serious infrastructural inadequacies.

He explained that the LDS Charities had to extend its relief and development activities to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital because it was the main medical facility in the Central Region so it needed to reposition itself well to enable it to discharge its healthcare delivery mandate.

Dr. Ekow Armah-Arloo, the Medical Director for the Ankaful Hospital, said over the years, the institution had relied solely on government subvention to fund all of its activities, such as feeding of patients, provision of essential services, and maintenance of official buildings.

Unfortunately, he said, in the face of inadequate and irregular releases of funds by the government, it had become increasingly difficult to effectively manage the hospital, thus compelling it to solicit assistance.

Dr. Armah-Arloo praised the LDS Charities for going to the aid of the hospital.

He gave the management’s assurance that the facilities would be well maintained for to ensure their sustenance.

He, therefore, appealed to donor agencies and philanthropists to go to the aid of the hospital to augment the government’s provisions.

At the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Mr. Yaw Adjei Frimpong, the hospital administrator, thanked the Church for the gesture and urged corporate bodies to emulate the gesture of the Church.