The Navrongo Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Health Service has organised a dialogue with residents of the Sirigu community in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region. The forum was to provide a platform for discsussions around improving healthcare delivery in the area.
The Dioceses believes that improving primary healthcare in rural areas requires the cooperation of local residents, stakeholders, and partners; thus, the project.
According to the Health Director of the Navrongo Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Health Service, Peter Akudugu Ayamba, the Diocese is currently operating 12 health facilities. These include 11 health centres and 1 hospital in various rural communities.
“The Catholic Health Service Trust (CHST), Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, works to complement the efforts of the government of Ghana in meeting the health needs of the people in the Diocese. The Diocese cited the facilities at the most remote areas/communities, seeking to meet the health needs of the rural, underserved, and vulnerable communities in the Diocese. Many of these facilities were established by priests and religious in line with Christ Healing Ministry. In all, there are 12 health facilities (11 health centres and 1 hospital) distributed throughout the Diocese.”
Mr. Ayamba explained that the Martyrs of Uganda Health Center in the community has been earmarked for rehabilitation and expansion. It is one of such facilities to undergo similar processes. He made these comments in response to earlier concerns raised by community members.
“The facility over the years has served the good people of Sirigu and its surrounding communities very well. This resulted in an overwhelming demand for service expansion to include other specialised services. The Diocese in the 2019-2023 strategic plan earmarked this facility for upgrading to a Primary Hospital in line with the plans to expand service, to meet community needs and expectation.”
Martyrs of Uganda Health Centre is not the only health facility in the nation currently experiencing difficulties, he said, adding that measures were well under way to address these issues.
“The delays in the NHIA reimbursement to facilities and many others are the main reasons for the challenge. Insurance owns the facility huge sums of money that is not forthcoming. And despite these difficulties, management is able to resolve over 70% of medicines and non-medicines availability. The laboratory challenges have been totally dealt with and the facility is now very stable and running smoothly. I must add that the Diocese is committed to bringing quality and affordable health care to the people of Sirigu and beyond. This informs our decision to upgrade the facility to a Primary Hospital.”
Responding to a media report about Martyrs of Uganda Health Center and a locum doctor, he said it was an unfortunate situation as said report was “mischievous” and took away the real essence of bringing the concerns of the people that were genuine to bear.
“Of course, inasmuch as reports help address challenges, people should always be circumspect on how they report concerns of community members, so that it does create unnecessary agitation. Since I took over office I have been in constant touch with the community and will do everything possible to ensure that Martyrs of Uganda Health Center stands tall and will be a facility that will meet the genuine and realistic expectation of the community members. The Diocese remains committed to ensuring that Diocesan Population have access to Quality and Affordable Health Care.”
Meanwhile the Paramount of Sirigu Traditional Area, Naba Roland Atogumdeya Akwara III after the durbar also noted that initially he was concern over the report as it sort to paint a picture as though the doctor that was engaged to facilitate the upgrading of the facility to a hospital status, had done something wrong.
“My first thoughts after I saw the report were that the doctor was engaged in some ills but after this explanation from the facility management here I will advise that as media people they should always try to get more information before reporting. Yes, the challenges are there and we all need them to be addressed as soon as possible. In fact, I have made several follow ups even to the Bishop, so we all want the best, but we should always do more consultations beforehand. I was not consulted through the media man who came to my community and has my number. All that I’m saying is that we should always seek to consult more before reporting.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
