THE St Anthony’s Hospital at Dzodze in the Ketu-North District of the Volta Region has celebrated its 50th anniversary with a target to establish a nurses’ training college and a jubilee house.
Sod-cutting for the two projects were performed by the outgoing Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor and the Bishop of Keta-Akatsi Diocese of the Catholic Church, Bishop Anthony K. Adanuty.
In an address at the function, Dr Kunbuor said the government would support the nurses’ college project because it would help address the problems of shortage of nurses in the nation and also enhance health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Dr Kunbuor advised stakeholders to liaise with the Nurses and Midwives Council and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to ensure the firm establishment of the college.
He said as church healthcare workers based at the grassroots where the greater number of people lived, they must pay special attention to preventive health by encouraging citizens to adopt good eating, drinking and sexual habits to extend their life expectancies.
Dr Kunbuor said it was gratifying that the partnership between the MoH and the Christian Health Workers Association of Ghana (CHAG) had been strengthened.
He said church hospitals would be expected to accept the staffing norms of the MOH as the basis for recruitment and should submit human resource needs to MoH for support.
Dr Kunbuor said CHAG hospitals should additionally operate efficient management and administrative structures which should not compromise the main purpose and objectives of MOH.
The medical officer in charge, Dr William Gyau Dwamena, said the hospital offered services in 12 categories with a staff strength of 159, including four medical officers and an orthopaedic specialist.
He said the hospital had provided services for more than 361,194 patients over the past 50 years, adding that it was the only hospital in the south-eastern corner of the country which provided specialist urological services.
He also said it was the only district-level hospital in the region with a resident consultant orthopaedic surgeon.
Dr Dwamena expressed concern over the dwindling and depleted financial resources due to the delay in refunding money disbursed on the National Health Insurance Scheme.
He added that it made it impossible to plan and undertake scheduled maintenance and replacement of over-aged equipment.
In an address read on behalf of the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, he commended the hospital for its contribution to the delivery of quality healthcare service to the people.
He said the government acknowledged the role of mission hospitals in the healthcare delivery programmes of the nation.
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