Cape Coast, Oct. 13, GNA - The Central Regional hospital incurred an accumulated debt of 192 million cedis from the non-payment of medical bills by corporate bodies and individuals last year and from January this year, to date.

The defaulters included expectant mothers who had been admitted to deliver, prisoners, and the destitute.

The hospital's director, Dr Darius Osei-Kofi, told the GNA at Cape Coast on Monday, that the situation was affecting the smooth operation of the hospital.

He explained that as a referral hospital, no money is given to it to cater for exempted patients like expectant mothers, destitute and the aged.

He said to keep the hospital running, management had devised "a flexible term of payment", whereby patients who are not able to pay their bills outright, are made to sign an undertaking to pay by instalment between six and 12 months.

He, however, expressed regret that some people were abusing this arrangement and had refused to pay, creating the erroneous impression that patients admitted for long periods are allowed to go without paying.

Dr Osei-Kofi was hopeful that the proposed National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would help stem the situation, since people would be contributing towards their health needs.

Dr Osei-Kofi said the hospital had a total of 33 doctors, including four specialists, made up of 14 Ghanaians, 17 Cubans, an Egyptian and a Bulgarian who were being supported by 136 nurses and 61 causal workers. He said although the hospital was a referral one, it still received high number of out-patients, with malaria topping the list of illnesses, followed by anaemia, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS.

He said a total of 27,708 patients visited the hospital last year, and therefore debunked the notion that the hospital was under utilised and had low patronage.

He said although the hospital had a high attendance and admission rates, mortality rates were low. For example, it recorded seven percent last year and three percent from January to June this year, which he described as one of the most efficient referral hospital in the country. According to him, the few deaths recorded had been due to delays in referring cases, while some people, went to prayer camps with their ailments and only came to the hospital after their cases had been "declared hopeless" at the camps.

He mentioned staff accommodation and lack of funds to train more specialists and maintain the hospital, as some of its problems.