By Samuel Ayammah
Residents of Mempaasem, a suburb of Kwame Danso in the Sene West District, and surrounding communities are to benefit from good quality healthcare with the construction of an ultramodern health facility in the area.
The facility, which comes with a delivery room, consultation rooms and sanitation facilities among others, is expected to serve Mempaasem, Kwame Danso Secondary School, Banyako, Dada, Kaleb and other adjoining communities, bringing relief to residents who previously had to rely solely on the district hospital at Kwame Danso.
The Bono East Regional Minister, Francis Owusu Antwi, who inspected the facility, expressed satisfaction with the quality and speed of work, noting that it is left with commissioning.
“The quality of work is impressive and the speed is commendable. The structure is almost ready, it is left with commissioning,” he said.
The Minister said what interests him most is the furnishing and equipment supplied by the district assembly.
“What interests me most is the furnishing and equipment supplied by the assembly. This is not what we saw in most facilities we visited,” he noted.
According to the District Director of Health, the facility is ready to be taken over for operations and commended the District Chief Executive, the Member of Parliament and all stakeholders for their collaboration.
The District Chief Executive for Sene West, Mr. Khaari Fuseini, said the construction of the facility is in response to the President’s free primary healthcare policy.
“Apart from the district hospital at Kwame Danso, there is no government health facility in the town. We had to initiate this project to enable residents benefit from the policy,” he explained.
He added that the contractor has done a good job and all medical equipment needed for operations have been supplied.
“The contractor has done a good job and all medical equipment needed for operations have been supplied. With certification from the Minister, the facility will soon be opened to the public,” Mr. Fuseini said.
The District Director of Health for Sene West, Alhaji Mohammed Tahiru, said the new facility will help address the lack of an additional government health facility in the district capital.
“This facility is crucial because the free primary healthcare policy covers CHPS compounds, health centres and polyclinics, but not district hospitals. The Mempaasem facility will therefore serve the people of Kwame Danso and enable them to benefit from the policy,” he said.
He said when he assumed office the building was almost completed and not finished.
“When I assumed office the building was almost completed but not fully finished. I requested the DCE to support with equipment and the assembly has supplied all the items requested,” he stated.
Alhaji Tahiru said the facility is awaiting commissioning, after which health personnel will move in.
” Human resource has already been allocated, including a physician assistant, a midwife, curative and preventive nurses,” he disclosed.
He added that although the structure was built as a CHPS compound, it will start operations as a health centre.
“It was built as a CHPS compound but it will start operations as a health centre and will be presented to the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency and the National Health Insurance Scheme as such,” he said.
He noted that there are other facilities in the district completed months ago that are yet to be operationalized due to lack of equipment, and he is in talks with the district assembly to get them completed and handed over.
He added that the recent recruitment of health staff has provided enough personnel to operationalize the remaining facilities once completed.
He also disclosed that under the free primary healthcare policy, the district will benefit from a health kiosk to be sited at Adjokrom.
“Under the free primary healthcare policy, the district will benefit from a health kiosk to be sited at Adjokrom. The site has been secured and the contractor has taken over and is expected to start work within the next month,” he said.
