Ashanti Region hospitals threaten to revert to ‘cash and carry’

Health facilities in the Ashanti Region may have to close down or resort to the ‘cash-and-carry’ system by the end of this month if the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) does not settle its indebtedness to them.

The Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Alexis Nang-Beifubah, said the health facilities in the region owed the Regional Medical Stores (RMS) GH¢11 million.

Dr Nang-Beifubah,  who issued the threat at the 2014 annual performance review of the Ashanti Regional Health Service in Kumasi, had earlier expressed the same sentiments when the Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, visited the region recently.

He said some of the hospitals also owed private pharmaceutical companies GH¢11 million.

According to him, the last time the NHIA reimbursed health facilities in the region was June 2014, which means that the hospitals are owed in excess of seven months, instead of the mandated three months.

Review meeting

Speaking at the review meeting, Dr Nang-Beifubah said as a result of the indebtedness of the hospitals to the RMS, the stores had not been able to settle their arrears to the Central Medical Stores either.

“We sincerely think that if by March ending payment is not made, it will be impossible to run these facilities,” he told the gathering, which included the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong.

Dumsor charges

Last week, some hospitals in the region resorted to charging patients what they termed “dumsor bills” to cater for fuel to power their generating sets during the load-shedding period.