TWO HEALTH FACILITIES HANDED OVER TO G.H.S IN BONGO 12th July, 2019

Two newly constructed health facilities valued at 356,000 Ghana Cedis, have been handed over to the Bongo District Directorate of the Ghana Health Service for immediate commencement of community health service delivery and occupation by staff of the service.

Speaking at two separate handing over ceremonies held at Sanabiisi and Namoo on Friday, Bongo District Chief Executive [DCE] Hon. Peter Ayinbisa Ayamga disclosed that the former’s facility was a Community Health Planning Services [CHPS] project executed with funds from the 2018 share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund while the latter had a maternity block, funded by the District Development Facility. He added that, while it cost government 226,000 Ghana Cedis to construct the CHPS facility, the Namoo Maternity Block cost 130,000 Ghana Cedis to build.

The Sanabiisi CHPS facility

Hon. Ayamga further disclosed that, the CHPS facility in Sanabiisi has a five-room capacity and a waiting area for clients and fitted with an overhead water tank to ensure constant water supply to the facility. It also has an adjoining accommodation block comprising three self-contained rooms for health staff deployed there.

He recalled that during his 14-year reign as assembly man for the Sanabiisi area, several complains and letters of request were submitted to management of the Assembly for a CHPS facility for the area but all to no avail. He noted that citizens in the area had to travel far away to either Bongo or Namoo, for basic health services and believed that the handing over of the facility was a permanent panacea. He revealed that due to the long absence of a health facility in area, some quack traditional healers had taken advantage and were swindling people of lots of cash but yet failed to meet their health needs. He thus advised his people to resort to the CHPS centre as a first point of call whenever they fall sick.

The DCE charged the community members to ensure that the facility is well protected and its staff, given the needed support and cooperation to enable them deliver the best of services. He also warned against encroachment on the CHPS facility’s land area adding that such tendencies will only discourage authorities from sending future projects to the area. He also appealed to nurses and other critical health workers to accept postings to rural areas stressing that, it was such places that people needed them the more because they had no options when it comes to health needs. He asked the staff at the facility to undertake regular maintenance and also, fix all minor problems before they degenerate into bigger

issues.

Hon. Ayamga singled out the Mba Azudongo family for praise stressing that, majority of public projects in the community were constructed on parcels of land freely donated by heads of the family. He hinted that at an appropriate time, the family will be honoured for its selfless gesture through the years. Meanwhile, he urged other families to follow suit.

He announced that the Assembly intends to construct three more CHPS compounds in underserved areas within the district and that, the Nayorogor community had so far been identified. He asked the health authorities to assist in citing the remaining two. He said the Assembly had resolved that, any new CHPS project in the district will always include a water source component since water was a very important factor in quality health service delivery.

In his remarks, a community elder, Mr. Samuel Akugre commended government for the CHPS project saying it had brought a big relief to thousands of households in the Sanabiisi area. Mr. Akugre asked the Assembly to fast-track water and electricity connection to the facility.

Meanwhile, authorities of the Ghana Health Service speaking through Mr. Cabral Bantiu disclosed that, a team of four staff comprising an enrolled nurse, a midwife and two community health nurses had been posted to man the facility. He called on the Assembly to construct a fence wall around the facility to ward off encroachers as well as stop unwarranted access. He also asked for the addition of wash rooms for clients and the installation of a sink at in the waiting area.

Namoo New Maternity Block

However at the Namoo Maternity block handing over, DCE Ayamga revealed that it was a 15-bed facility that would create adequate room for the discharge of quality maternal health services and also free the main Namoo Health Centre from congestion.

Head of the facility, Madam Alimatu Sadia Adamu, appealed for an overhead water storage tank to ensure regular flow of water for washing off blood and other fluids from deliveries. She also asked for the provision of shelves for filing of patients’ folders among other health records.