From Biiya Mukusah Ali, Techiman
Essential medical equipment worth Gh.c 17,250 has been presented to the Abrafi Women and Children Hospital in Techiman, to improve the hospital’s capacity to respond to women and childrenโs health complications.
The equipment, which was donated by ASA Savings and Loans Limited are hospital bed, baby’s courts, nebulizer devices, patient monitor with accessories and stand, digital blood pressure monitors and examination gloves.
The gesture aimed to strengthen the 40-bed women and children hospital’s capacity to significantly boost maternal and child healthcare delivery for women and children in the Bono East, Bono and Ahafo regions.
Infrastructure deficits
Speaking to our correspondent after the presentation, the Nurse Manager of the facility, Millicent Kusi-Appiah, appealed to the government to construct a new facility with enough units and offices and bemoaned the huge infrastructure deficit at the hospital, explaining that there were some units without offices and some staff without units to attend to patients.
She mentioned the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), physiotherapy and Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) unit are some of the units without offices or units.
Ms Kusi-Appiah explained that there was also limited space at the children’s ward, compelling management of the facility to use other units.
“When we get new babies and they need resuscitation, because we don’t have a NICU we have to refer both the baby and mother to the Techiman Holy Hospital,” she explained.
Ms Kusi-Appiah said the hospital had enough human resources, but their major challenge was the infrastructure deficit.
She said handling maternal and child health cases requires appropriate equipment because of their vulnerability.
She also expressed concern about lack of slit lamp and tonometry for examination of eyes and checking of eye pressure respectively.
Intermittent power cut
Ms Kusi-Appiah called on the Techiman Metropolitan Assembly to resolve the frequent intermittent power cut at the hospital to avoid disruptions in their operations.
She said their Outpatient Department (OPD) attendance was between 2,000 and 3,000 in every quarter, adding that malaria, skin diseases, diarrhea and gastroenteritis were the common cases recorded at the facility.
She thanked ASA Savings and Loans for the donation and appealed to other institutions and organisations to support them with similar items to enhance their operations.
“These are equipment that we really need in our daily activities. The Bank has met our point of needs,” she said.
Growing demand
The Techiman Branch Manager of the ASA Savings and Loans, Charles Kwaku Akpenor, said the hospital was selected because of the special services it provided to women and children.
He said it became necessary because of the growing demand for healthcare services at the only women and children hospital, serving the three regions.
Mr. Akpenor said the donation forms part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme to promote quality healthcare delivery in communities they operate and contribute to the nation building.
He appealed to the management of the facility to maintain and ensure efficient use of the equipment.
“We have intention to make another presentation, but it will depend on how the facility makes good use of what we just presented,” he said.
Mr. Akpenor said it was the vision of the ASA Savings and Loans to help underprivileged in the society to access both quality healthcare and loans to expand their businesses.
On its banking services, he said ASA Savings and Loans had flexible requirements in accessing loans and urged the public to do business with them for easily accessible loans.
The hospital was constructed by the assembly and named after the Queen mother of Techiman Traditional Area, Nana Abrafi Koto, who was enstooled at the age of 17.
