99-year-old Akyem Oda Hospital needs help
THE 99-year-old Akyem Oda Government Hospital, which is one of the oldest in the country, serving parts of Eastern, Central and Ashanti regions, is facing a barrage of challenges, which are hampering quality healthcare delivery.
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Most of the buildings, including the wards, are leaking with cracked walls, while both male and female patients at the Accident and Emergency ward are accommodated in a very small cubicle.
The X'Ray department lacks films compelling the staff to refer patients who need X'Ray services to seek such services at private facilities.
These came to light when a delegation from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Eastern Regional Health Directorate toured the hospital during a fact-finding mission at the facility to ascertain matters for themselves and inform the Health Ministry to help find lasting solutions to the problems.
The team, led by the Director for Infrastructure at MoH, Ben Ampomah Nkansah, observed that most of the structures and equipment were old and obsolete as they had not seen any renovation or refurbishment for years.
It also came to light that three of the five patient monitors at the hospital are not functioning, while one of the two machines at the operating theatre is not working.
Accommodation
The team also discovered that both male and female patients are accommodated in the male ward as the female ward was converted into an isolation ward for COVID-19 victims and the ward is still lying idle despite the fact that COVID-19 ceased to exist since 2022.
Members of the team were divided on whether the hospital management should acquire a new piece of land for the construction of a new hospital or they should demolish some of the old structures and replace with storey buildings.
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It was also established that the surgical instruments of the operating theatre were obsolete with the improvised door of the theatre completely damaged.
It also came to light that most of the hospital’s beds and mattresses were old and needed to be replaced with new ones while the dental chairs were damaged beyond repairs.
The acting Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Felix Asiedu, who conducted the team round to inspect the facilities, thanked the members and appealed to them to assist in reshaping the hospital.
Other members of the team were Jacob Twene, Dr Edward Agyekum and Dr Nicholas Adjabu, all from the MoH, and Gordon Anafo, the Eastern Regional Estate Manager of the MoH.
