Story: Vincent Adedze, Bawku
THE Bawku Municipal Assembly has committed an amount of GH¢60,000 (¢600 million) towards the construction of a new ward for the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
Similarly, the Members of Parliament (MPs) from the five constituencies in the Bawku area, namely, Bawku Central, Pusiga Polimakom, Binduri, Zebilla and Garu-Tempane have contributed a total of GH¢2,500 (¢25 million) towards the project.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Bawku, Mr Abdul Rahman Gumah, and the MP for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, announced this at Bawku during the golden jubilee anniversary of the hospitals.
The anniversary under the theme: “50 Years of Collaborative Quality Healthcare Delivery: The Way Forward,” was to offer management and stakeholders the opportunity to thank God for the past 50 years of their stewardship in healthcare delivery in Bawku. They also mapped out strategies for the development of the hospital in the years ahead.
Citizens of Bawku from all walks of life as well as expatriates, who had served in the hospital over the years, attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the function, the MCE said even though the Bawku Hospital was a municipal facility, it did not receive adequate support from the government in terms of resources because it was being managed by the Presbyterian Church.
He said the assembly would continue to use every available means to ensure that they received the necessary resources to enable the facility to perform effectively for the benefit of the people.
The MP for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, praised the management of the hospital as well as the Presbyterian Church for their invaluable contribution to the health needs of the people of Bawku.
“Although a mission hospital operating in a predominantly non-Christian environment, it has rendered its services without discrimination,” Mr Ayariga stressed.
He said he and his colleague MPs in the Bawku area were prepared to constitute themselves into a powerful lobby group to advocate increased funding for the hospital to enable it to meet its obligation to the people.
Mr Ayariga commended a number of individuals including expatriates from Europe and Cuba, who had defied all odds to serve the people of Bawku in addressing their health needs.
He also praised the management of the hospital for the introduction of the Nurses Training College, which had increased the training of nurses.
The MP, however, urged the authorities of the college to review its admission policy by ensuring that many natives with the requisite qualification, were enrolled.
He said further that that would encourage a large number of the nurses to stay back and serve their people, since they better understood the needs of the people.
Mr Ayariga stated that Bawku was now peaceful and debunked assertions that the area was conflict prone, stressing that the era of conflicts had been relegated to the pages of history.
He warned that anybody who would do anything to disturb the peace currently existing in the municipality would be dealt with by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
The acting General Manager of the Northern Presbytery Health Services, Mr John Abugri, in his address, said after 50 years of existence, the hospital could not boast an administrative block or a conference hall for in-service training and meetings.
Mr Abugri added that accommodation for doctors and other critical staff was also a big problem facing the management of the hospital, thereby limiting its efforts to engage more doctors and others critical staff.
He noted another area of concern which was the fence wall that was on the verge of collapse.
Mr Abugri stated that the management of the Northern Presbyterian Health Services was committed to making the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital a centre of excellence in healthcare delivery.
He therefore appealed to all stakeholders to join hands with the hospital authorities to make that dream a reality.
The Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr William Duodo, who deputised for the Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (retd), commended the management of Northern Presbyterian Health Services, the staff of the Bawku Hospital and the Presbyterian Church for doing their best to maintain the hospital since it took over five decades ago.
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