A group known as Concerned Citizens of Damongo is calling on the leader of the Gonja Kingdom and President of Savannah Regional House of Chiefs, Yagbonwura Tutumba Bore Essa (I) to dissolve the current management of the West Gonja hospital, located at Damongo, the Savannah regional capital. The group made the call at a press conference held at Ras Banku Cinema hall on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, Damongo.
The lead Convener of the group, Rev Samuel Dinkeri disclosed, "Information available indicates that even though this hospital has become a referral hospital for some of the districts in the Savannah Region, yet the number of people coming to seek healthcare in the hospital has reduced by 50%".
This according to the lead Convener, is due to poor management of the hospital. The group further made a case that for the past few years the confusion at the hospital has led to some patients losing lives and doctors and nurses embarking on industrial actions.
"A cursory look at the media for the past few years would reveal that the West Gonja Hospital has consistently been in the news for the wrong reasons. If it is not about Nurses Strike, then it is about the resignation of doctors or power struggle among management. These issues which have not been managed well have resulted in deaths".
The Concerned Citizens of Damongo also appeal to the Yagbonwura and all stakeholders to get to the root of the matter and get the current management dissolve to help save lives in the area. Read below the detailed press read by the lead Convener. STATEMENT BY CONCERNED CITIZENS OF DAMONGO ON THE STATE OF THE WEST GONJA HOSPITAL! 13th April, 2022. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you very much for honoring our invitation. It is our hope that through your esteemed medium our voice would go far. We are here to express our disappointment, our frustration and our grave concern about the worrying state of our beloved West Gonja Hospital. A cursory look at the media for the past few years would reveal that the West Gonja Hospital has consistently been in the news for the wrong reasons.
If it is not about Nurses Strike, then it is about the resignation of doctors or power struggle among management. These issues which have not been managed well have resulted in deaths.
Information available indicates that even though this hospital has become a referral hospital for some of the districts in the Savannah Region, yet the number of people coming to seek healthcare in the hospital has reduced by 50%.
Meanwhile some years back, the West Gonja Hospital was one of the best performing hospital in northern Ghana, attracting clients from the length and breadth of this country.
Thomas Carlyl once said that “He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything”. We all know that the healthcare delivery of a hospital is the sole concern of the owners and managers of every hospital.
Unfortunately, we have observed with pain the following about the West Gonja Hospital in Damongo: The general healthcare delivery at the hospital is currently very poor.
Ineffectiveness of National Health Insurance; the hospital seems to have returned to the cash and carry system because clients pay for virtually all the services at the hospital. Discrimination among clients who access healthcare from the hospital, particularly on ethnic grounds.
Though, about half of the doctors in Savannah Region are concentrated in the West Gonja Hospital in Damongo alone, there is no corresponding output from them due to reasons best known to managers of the hospital.
Constant unrest and conflicts among the workers and managers of the hospital which has persisted for several years.
As concerned citizens of Damongo who have been hugely affected by this poor and abysmal state of our cherished West Gonja Hospital, we are saying enough is enough.
We are therefore humbly demanding the following from His Royal Majesty Jira Yagbonwura Professor Tuntumba Boresa Jakpa (I) and the government: That the ownership of the hospital be declared to the public once and for all
That the name West Gonja Hospital, Damongo should not be changed for any reason.
That current board of the hospital be dissolved and reconstituted to reflect a true and proper representation of the various stakeholders.
That the current management of the hospital have failed in their categorical imperative to manage the hospital well and therefore should be replaced.
That we want at least 50% of the Human resource be replaced with natives who hold equal qualifications.
We want to commend His Royal Majesty for his efforts so far in this matter and it is our hope that it would be resolved immediately.
We want to also call on all well-meaning Kejakpanana (Gonjalanders) all over the globe who are capable of helping in any way to resolve this problem to kindly do so now.
May the Lord Almighty God who is the only true judge bless us all.
Thank you.
Rev. Samuel Mahama Dinkeri (Lead Covener)
Mr. Adam Mashood (Covener)
Source: @nuhuzulqa