A new medical rehabilitation unit has been opened at the medical centre of the presidency, Jubilee House, in Accra.
The facility, otherwise known as the Jubilee House Clinic, has been equipped with modern physiotherapy equipment which will enhance the medical centre’s delivery of quality and holistic medical service to staff of the presidency.
Speaking at an outdooring ceremony on Thursday, Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, stressed the need for employers to place premium on the physical and mental wellbeing of employees.
She is of the conviction that it will help build emotional resilience of the workforce and help create a positive and healthy workplace, as well as increase productivity.
The Chief of Staff said the decision to set up the new unit was part of government’s broader vision to play a proactive role in enhancing employee wellbeing and occupational risk management.
She indicated that many employees had been afflicted by one or more health problems like back and waist pains, and other debilitating conditions, owing to sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity.
Many employees spend many hours either behind the desk, trying to meet workplace demands at the detriment of their health. And it is onerous on the employer to invest and make available rehabilitative health systems to ensure a healthy occupational ecosystem,” was how she put it.
She therefore noted that the establishment of the unit would enable the Jubilee House Medical Team spot early warning signs associated with the conditions of staff to ensure early treatment and referrals.
Apart from that, she said it would also ensure a fit-to-work regime, where all employees at the presidency function as demanded by the government.
It is also instructive to highlight that physical and mental health problems are often interrelated, hence this intervention will serve as another avenue to educate staff on the correct ways of building emotional resilience at the workplace, she said, while noting with emphasis “this will help in creating a positive and healthy work culture of the presidency.”
She has since urged staff at the presidency to avail themselves for the services of the unit.
The unit will provide physiotherapy services such as spine care, stroke rehabilitation, back pain, fractures and arthritis management and paediatricphysio.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent