Monday 7th April , 2014 4:58 pm
The lack of an Accident and Emergency Unit at the Half Assini Government Hospital in the Jomoro District has left hospital authorities with no option than to hospitalize victims of emergencies in plastic chairs.
The current supposed casualty unit has four tables covered with mattresses and a number of plastic chairs in which patients sits devoid of the magnitude of case.
A visit to the facility witnessed three children (one male and two females) all seated in green plastic chairs as they receive infusion.
Two of them were also left at the mercy of the scorching sun while on medication.
One of the children could not withstand the pain from the infusion while sitting as he complained to the mother of wanting to sleep. The mother feeling sorry for his 6-year-old son turned her lap as substitute.
In an interview with Citi News, the acting Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Jonathan Mensah indicated that the lack of Accident and Emergency Unit has witnessed “many patients whom we could have saved perished”.
He said that because the district experience the most rainfall in the country accompanied with it rippling effect on roads, the bad roads becomes fuels for accident which has seen an increase in victims coming to the facility.
Though the outlook of the facility looks colorful, some departments and equipment are four decades without face lifts.
The Senior Health Service Administrator of the hospital Dr. Paul Amponsah Agyakwa (MBA, HSA) said because the hospital is the only health centre in the whole district, pressure on the facility is high with increasing number of Ivoirians coming in to seek healthcare especially on weekends.
He said within a period of less than a month the hospital has recorded 4,223 cases of emergencies.
The ambulance at the hospital has also been out of service for more than six month when it was involved in an accident with a supposed ‘okada’.
He said it becomes daring when transporting patients to the Effia Nkwanta Hospital in Takoradi amidst the bad road and hours of driving.
Accoding to him, despite the crucial role the hospital plays for the district and the southern part of Ivory Coast, authorities have turned a blind eye to the plight of the hospital particularly with the causality unit.
“…they are aware, every year we present our challenges to them at the annual health review and nothing have been done about it all this while, we are now appealing to citizens of Nzemaland to come and support us with any donation they have and we will be happy to use it build the causality unit,” Dr. Agyakwa indicated.
By: Oberempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana