Residents of the Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti region are demanding that government provides the community with a hospital befitting of the municipality.
Asokore Mampong is one of the youngest municipalities in the Ashanti region gazetted in the year 2012.
It however holds the second largest population among all the administrative districts in the region second only to the Kumasi Metropolis.
Over three hundred thousand people reside in the area but the area has no government hospital worth its population size.
The only public facilities are the Booban and Sepeh Doti health centers which are suited for primary health care.
The people have to travel either to the KNUST Hospital or the Manhyia hospital whose location is under contention to access comprehensive health care.
The Municipality was recently exposed when affected students of the Kumasi Academy Senior High School located in the Municipality were referred to these two hospitals during the outbreak of the deadly strain of the H1N1 influenza viral infection in the school.
Some of the residents who spoke to Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote – Fumador complained they have to put up with a few private clinics, some of which run the cash and carry system or travel outside the municipality for healthcare.
An elderly woman Vivian Boatemaa recounted, “If you get seriously sick in this community, you will have to go all the way to Manhyia. When I got shingles, that is where I was admitted and that is where I still have my files. We have the SOS clinic, Dr Acheampong, Dr Razak and some other clinics here but they are all private. We will be happy to have a big government hospital here. Even if they upgraded the SOS clinic for us we will be grateful.”
Another resident Dora Baah told Ultimate News, “We visit Dr Osei and Dr Razack’s clinic when we fall sick. But these are private hospitals. They charge us for their services unlike the government hospitals that take the health insurance. Before you pick a form, you end up paying so much money. It will help, if we had a good government hospital here.”
An opinion leader who gave his name as Acheampong indicated, “We don’t have any proper government hospital here. What we have here are privately owned. Some take the health insurance. But others don’t. We usually go to the manhyia government hospital. If government decides to build a hospital for us, we will be very glad. The residents will even get jobs. We will all benefit.”
The Asokore Mampong Municipal Health Director Justice Ofori Amoah who is likely concerned about the situation laments that his outfit is unable to get the right statistics, request for health staff or manage some conditions like HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis because of the lack of a well established hospital in the whole municipality.
Meanwhile Ultimate fm gathers that the legal instrument that set up the municipality, drafts the Kotoko park where the Manhyia Government Hospital is located under the Asokore Mampong municipality.
According to documents available to Ultimate News, the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council on 26th September, 2016 wrote correspondence albeit unsuccessfully to get the hospital recognized as a facility under the municipal health directorate.
Meanwhile the Municipal Chief Executive of the Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly Alhaji Alidu Seidu has given indication that talks are far advanced to get a facility to begin construction of the municipality’s first government hospital before the end of 2018.
He told Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, “processes are ongoing and by Gods grace one is in the pipeline, talks are underway and we are about 80% complete as far as the talks are concerned. The target is that you should give us up to the end of this year, you will hear a good story as far as that is concerned.
He however pointed out that his assembly was not going to begin any legal battle to get the Manhyia hospital recognized as part of the municipal area.
He noted, “it is in my jurisdiction but practically it is not.
By: Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/Ivan Heathcote-Fumador
The post Residents of Asokore Mampong Municipality Cry For Gov’t Hospital appeared first on Ultimate FM.
Residents of the Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti region are demanding that government provides the community with a hospital befitting of the municipality. Asokore Mampong is one of the youngest municipalities in the Ashanti region gazetted in the year 2012. It however holds the second largest population among all the administrative districts in the […]
The post Residents of Asokore Mampong Municipality Cry For Gov’t Hospital appeared first on Ultimate FM.
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