FACILITIES AT EFFIA-NKWANTA HOSPITAL INADEQUATE (Page 20)

Story: Moses Doe Aklorbortu, Takoradi

Facilities at the Effia-Nkwantah Regional Hospital would not be adequate to receive any emergency from the supporters who would be trooping cheer their nations.
The town is expected to receive more than 60,000 visitors and with little over two weeks to go, the accident and emergency unit of the regional hospital in the Western Region is still under construction.
The hospital has only 14 beds at the casualty unit, an ambulance that pays frequent visit to the workshop and a skeleton staff on duty. In short, experts are of the view that the hospital is not ready for any eventuality.
Apart from that other clinical services are located far from the present location of the casualty unit.
This means that in case of any eventuality, the unit will not be able to contain the situation.
The hospital has a basic structural defect as it was originally for military men who were being prepared for war during world wars. The structures were later converted into a hospital with the emergency unit finding itself at the base of the hospital that is situated on a high land.
When this reporter got to the hospital last Saturday, some patients who had to go for X-ray had to be carried on the back of their relatives to access the services of the X-ray technicians.
To make matters worse, the ambulance at the unit is also paying one of its frequent visits to the workshop. Therefore, those who visited the hospital had to hire a taxi to get to the X-ray department.
When the Daily Graphic toured the new building under construction, there was still much work to be done. The windows, and other fittings were still being done.
One of the things that might have escaped the contractors was that the entrance to the new unit was not thought of. The building itself was on a high terrain that in case of emergency, patients cannot be easily transported to the wards.
However, work on the construction site which is near the main administration block is progressing at a very slow pace and the contractor is doing all he can to meet the deadline but that would be determined by undisclosed factors, among them the flow of funds.
When contacted, the Regional Coordinator for Ambulance and other Emergency Services, Dr Tawiah Siameh, said he was not sure the contractor would finish before the commencement of the tournament.
According to him, there were other hospitals such as GPHA and VRA, “but to be honest with you, we have all the specialists here at Effia-Nkwanta and if we should decentralise the services to those hospitals, it means we have to be doing follow-ups.
He said the unit would be receiving more ambulances to enable it take care of any emergency cases should the need arise. “We will be receiving ambulances from Accra, Winneba, Makessim and they should be enough for the period”.