Kwaku Agyeman-Manu during the inspection
Work on five polyclinics under construction in the Greater Accra Region is expected to be completed by January next year for operations to commence.
Each of the facilities will have 30 beds, an operation theatre, a laboratory, an X-ray department, a pharmacy, wards, a counselling room and two staff bungalows.
They comprise the Sege Municipal Polyclinic in the Ada West District, Ashaiman Polyclinic in the Ashaiman Municipality, Bortianor Polyclinic in the Ga South Municipality, Oduman Polyclinic in the Ga West Municipality and Ogbojo Polyclinic in the Adentan Municipality. Work on the projects, being constructed at a cost of €13.5 million, started in May 2017 and all of them are about 80 per cent complete.
Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu announced this when he inspected work on the Sege and the Ashaiman Polyclinics.
He said the polyclinic will be crucial for emergency cases in the event of motor accidents on the stretch, hence the need for an additional ward to address complex cases.
“This is a major road and anything could happen. We must prepare to save lives at every moment in time,” he indicated.
The contractor pointed out that an additional ward cannot be added now, but a future expansion would include an additional ward.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu tasked the assemblies benefitting from the projects to make funds ready to furnish the two bungalows that would be allocated to doctors at the facilities.
He also tasked them to fence the facilities after the completion of work on them to discourage encroachers from invading the lands that have been earmarked for future expansion.
The minister said the projects were being financed with a loan obtained from the Austrian government.
“It is within the policies of the MoH to provide district hospitals, such that people will be close to facilities to avoid referrals and travelling to see doctors. This will help prevent some health complications that occur as a result of the absence of nearby health facilities.
“If we are looking at achieving universal health coverage as part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, then we must put facilities closer to our clients,” he said.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu added that the health centres would boost the effort of the MoH to reduce maternal deaths which, according to him, occur mainly because of the lack of nearby health facilities to offer services to pregnant women in emergency situations.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri