Bongo District Hospital uses an improvised zinc structure as a mortuary where dead bodies are kept temporarilybefore they are picked by their families for burial or transfer.
The improvised structure, according to checks by A1RADIOONLINE.com has been used by the facility since the hospital began operations as a district hospital that serves residents of Bongo and its surrounding villages.
The poorly ventilated improvised mortuary structure is built of corroded zinc and is not spacious. The structure is prone to insect infestation and lacks fridges and air conditioners which can help preserve bodies after they have been embalmed.
Dead bodies are placed on stretchers which are just four in number and failure of relatives to pick their bodies with alacrity means a recipe for unsafe keeping.
The unavailability of a mortuary at the facility has been a major worry for staff of the hospital and the only available option is to transfer dead bodies to the impoverished Bolgatanga or Navrongo hospital mortuary for preservation.
Some staff who spoke to A1RADIOONLINE.com on condition of anonymity described the situation as embarrassing and called for immediate support to build a befitting cold room for the hospital.
A1RADIOONLINE.com checks at the facility reveals that although there have been promises by some benevolent individuals to build a simply designed cold room for the hospital. However, the promise is yet to be fulfilled following an almost stagnant work on the expected project.
Bongo district hospital is bedevilled with a myriad of issues ranging from infrastructural deficit to under staffing. The hospital which serves residents of Bongo and its surrounding villages until recently only had one doctor who doubles as the medical superintendent of the facility.
The 112 bedded district hospital takes care of over 130 communities in the Bongo district and this puts pressure on the deprived facility where most of the amenities are improvised to meet the overwhelming number of patients who throng to the hospital. The major challenge of infrastructural deficit however has no effect on the quality of health care delivery at the hospital as many health seekers especially pregnant women commute from Bolgatanga, the upper east regional capital to the Bongo hospital to access health care.
“I chose to come here from Bolga because the doctor here is very good and kind and I have heard that it is safer to deliver here than any other place and that’s why am here,” a heavily pregnant middle aged woman said.
Last year, the hospital was in the news because it lacks a paediatric ward and had to pair women and children at the same ward. Sick people had to pair on one bed in order to be attended to by the doctor or risk going home to die.
The situation touched the heart of some benevolent sons of the land who promised to build a paediatric ward and a mortuary for the hospital.
However, construction of the paediatric ward has started and has reached an appreciable level but work on the mortuary has not started hence necessitating the use of an improvised mortuary.
By: Offei-AkotoAyeh | A1RADIOONLINE.com | GHANA
