Bolgatanga, Mr Theodore Kanyi, the Architect in charge of the Upper East Regional Hospital expansion project, says the antibacterial and antifungal paints used on the walls of the completed second phase of the project have expired. He said phase two of the expansion project of the Hospital started in 2014 and was completed in 2016.
“It is just the building; we don’t have the equipment and we would have wished that by now the equipment is fully installed so that the people of Bolgatanga can enjoy the facility.
“This paint is antibacterial and antifungal and very expensive. The efficacy is two years. So, this right now has expired and it has not been of any benefit to anybody,” the Architect told Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister.
The Minister, who visited the Regional Hospital to interact with management and staff as part of his working visits to institutions in the Region, toured the abandoned facility.
When the Minister asked if the management of the Hospital could occupy the building with their old equipment for health service delivery to continue pending the installation of new equipment, the Architect said “That will be a decision of yourself and the Ghana Health Service. Our Commission is to design, supervise the building, and build it, and hopefully supervise the installation of the equipment. What the place is used for is completely out of our domain,” Mr Kanyi said.
He said for the building to be properly operational, there was the need for other departments, including the kitchen, laundry and the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) block since the wards would generate a lot of laundry waste every day.
“Each bed will generate about four kilos of laundry waste a day, and the existing laundry facility will not be able to cope. So, therefore, the need to develop the kitchen, laundry and CSSD blocks that are currently under construction.”
The Architect said the completed project had six wards with a total bed capacity of about 275 while the ground floor contained the Accident and Emergency Department, X-ray Department, laboratory services and blood bank.
He said the floor was designed to house the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, Ophthalmology and Pharmacy Departments.
“So that makes up the adjourning clinical services departments of the down floor and then above, we have the wards.”
Before the Minister toured the facility, Dr Aiden Suntaa Saanwie, the Acting Medical Director of the Hospital, said the facility struggled for space to accommodate patients.
“Currently we run our emergency at a small cubicle at the Out-Patient Department.
“In terms of space for Prescribers to go about their normal duties, it is really challenging.
So, it is a problem that we think the completion of the block will help create space and improve on our services.”
He appealed to the Minister to intervene so that the equipment would be fixed for them to occupy the building and indicated that the last briefing management got was that the project was scheduled to be handed over by June 2022.
“So, if you could push and make sure that those timelines are met, so we can occupy it, it will cure our space issues,” the Acting Medical Director said.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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