HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE IN KUMASI NOT THE BEST (SEPT 16, PAGE 29)

The Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Heath Services, Dr Kwasi Yeboah – Awudzi, has expressed concern about the poor health infrastructure in the metropolis, saying the problem does not only undermine effective and efficient delivery of health care in Kumasi but has been the primary cause of many maternal death .
Explaining, he said, the poor health facilities in the Kumasi metropolis compelled health care personnel to refer all emergency cases to the only referral hospital in Kumasi-the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital- (KATH), “making the place choked with emergency cases, thus unduly delaying medical care for patients to compound their problems”.
“The biggest medical problem we face in the Kumasi metropolis is maternal death. This is happening because we solely depend on the KATH to treat emergency cases, but if we depend on one facility to address a particular medical problem, the result will not be pleasant ” Dr Yeboah- Awudzi noted.
“Last year alone, as many as 133 maternal deaths were recorded in the Kumasi metropolis, and in the Ashanti region, the total maternal death recorded were 220. These were women who were very healthy before they became pregnant, and with proper health infrastructure and facilities, we could have prevented their death because we have competent medical personnel,” he lamented.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the poor health care infrastructure in the Kumasi metropolis, Dr Yeboah-Awudzi said “apart from the KATH, Kumasi does not boast any public health institution with adequate facilities , logistics and infrastructure that can deliver effective and efficient medical services to the numerous patients who seek medical care on a daily basis”.
He mentioned the Kumasi South Hospital at Chirapatre, the Manhyia and Tafo hospitals, as well as the Suntreso Hospital as the major public health institutions supposed to complement the KATH in providing medical care to residents in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs “ but they have been totally neglected in terms of infrastructure development over the years, and this has militated against quality health care ”.
“These hospitals have inadequate labour wards and theatres, and apart from the Suntreso hospital which has improvised blood bank, none of these so-called hospitals has any blood bank, so any form of emergency is quickly referred to the KATH, thereby choking the place. This makes it difficult for medical officers at the KATH to provide the requisite emergency services to patients referred there, so naturally we compound their problems, resulting in some patients losing their lives,” he explained further.
Dr Yeboah-Awudzi therefore appealed to the Ministry of Health to upgrade the public health institutions in Kumasi to enhance quality delivery of health.
“If the Regional Hospital at Chirapatre and the Manhyia Hospital especially are upgraded, and provided with the requisite infrastructure such as theatres, blood banks, wards and accommodation for staff, and the situation at Tafo and Suntreso are also improved, we would be able to reduce the congestion at the KATH.
This is because we will not only provide 24-hour service to patients, but will also address the emergency cases to reduce maternal death in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs.” he assured.