NALERIGU TO GET NURSES' TRAINING COLLEGE (PAGE 21)

WORK on a new nurses’ training college at Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District in the Northern Region, will begin next month to help address the increasing health needs of the people in the area.
The President, John Agyekum Kufuor, announced this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu.
Established in 1958 by the Baptist missionaries, the centre had over the years gained reputation for offering quality health services to the people of the area and neighbouring countries.
The idea for the establishment of the hospital was mooted in 1954 when Dr George Faile, a Baptist Church missionary, came to Ghana to attend the ninth annual session of the Gold Coast Baptist Conference.
With a current staff strength of 250, the hospital provides health care to 70,000 patients and carries out 1,200 major operations and 800 deliveries annually.
President Kufuor entreated health professionals to sacrifice a little for the improvement of healthcare delivery in the country.
According to him, the government was determined to improve the health sector through the training of its human resource.
He noted that the Baptist Church had left a very “good legacy” for the people of Nalerigu as well as the entire nation.
President Kufuor stated that the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was part of the government’s strategy to ensure increased access to health care by the poor in society.
He said the government’s quest for increased intake of students in the health institutions was part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
The President deplored the recent political violence in Tamale and Gushiegu and therefore urged the people of the Northern Region to make the area a safe haven for investment drive. The Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, entreated residents of the region to come home and help in its development.
He expressed gratitude to the chiefs and elders of the area for solving the problem of encroachment that was affecting the smooth operations of the centre.
The Medical Superintendent of the centre, Dr George M. Faile III, expressed concern about the seeming discrimination against some members of the Christian Hospital Association of Ghana (CHAG).
“Recently it has come to our attention, for example, that visiting doctors and specialists providing volunteer services at their own expense, are being asked to pay $400 just to register to be allowed to work for one or two weeks in the country,” he reported.
Dr Faile noted that if that trend continued, it would be difficult for “us to get volunteers to help provide expert services in the country”.
According to him, the hospital needed more doctors and therefore entreated the Ghana Health Service to post new doctors to the area to augment the staff position of the health facility.