By: Ewurabena Paha
Corporate Social Responsibility was taken to another level by the Ladies Association of ARB APEX BANK, when they took the challenge to refurbish the Female Ward One and renovate a dormitory as a changing room for nurses at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital. According to the Ladies, they chose the facility because of the unfriendly state of the ward that caters for females with mental health issues.
President of the Association, Iris Obeng Tuudah, said the refurbishment and renovation are to provide a more supportive and comfortable environment for nurses, who care for patients in the facility.
The Accra Psychiatric Hospital was established in 1906 during the British colonial period, initially known as the Lunatic Asylum. It was the first facility in the country dedicated exclusively to mental health treatment. Over the decades, the hospital underwent several transformations, including changes in structure, capacity and treatment approaches.
The female ward of the hospital for instance has not seen any major change over the years. This makes treatment and hospitalization difficult for both staff and patients. This, the ladies association of ARB APEX BANK saw as a problem which required swift attention.
Irish Obeng Tuudah who is president of the ladies Association said their earlier visit to the facility revealed seceral problems which needed to be solved. Though the Association is only three years old, they decided to come to the aid of the hospital because they believe, a helping hand will go a long way to ease the burden on the facility.
Madam Obeng Tuudah said the Association has plans to extend their benevolence to other state institutions.
The Hospital’s Director, Dr Kwadwo Marfo Obeng was full of appreciation for the gesture, describing it as timely. He said a facility that attends to more than one hundred patients a day, lacks basic logistics such as food for inmates.
He added that more of the country’s psychiatric nurses are resigning to seek better opportunities elsewhere, a trend Dr Marfo Obeng is worried could affect the health sector.
The Accra Psychiatric Hospital offers inpatient and outpatient services for individuals with a variety of mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. It also provides emergency psychiatric care, substance abuse treatment, and counseling services.
The faculty has traditionally served hundreds of patients, despite the many challenges including overcrowding and underfunding, which strain its infrastructure and staff; cultural stigma surrounding mental illness, which hampers public support and funding; and infrastructure decay, with part of the facility suffering from poor maintenance and substandard living conditions.
The ladies also renovated a dormitory which will now serve as a changing room for female nurses
