Management of health facilities urge to be innovative

The Management of public health facilities have been urged to be more innovative, to strengthen their internal revenue generation performance.

Dr. Kwabena Twum-Nuamah, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, said it was vital to aggressively explore other revenue streams for their smooth operation.

He made the call at the end of a three-day working tour of the Ashanti Region undertaken by members of the Committee.

The parliamentarians met and interacted with heads of the various health institutions to learn at first hand the challenges they had been struggling with and how to address these.

Dr. Twum-Nuamah, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berekum East, identified inadequate funding as the major headache of the facilities and said this had been compounded by delays in the reimbursement of health insurance claims.

He applauded the health professionals for the excellent job they were doing to save lives and bring quality health care to the people under sometimes difficult conditions.

He gave the assurance that his Committee would engage the Health Ministry to get some abandoned projects re-started and the facilities supplied with vital equipment and logistics.

He made reference to the lack of an X-ray machine at the Effiduase District Hospital and said this was something that needed to be urgently fixed.

Dr. Twum-Nuamah added that, the persistent problem regarding oxygen supply to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the nation’s second largest referral facility, could also not continue.

There should be a permanent solution and if that meant replacing the oxygen plant, they would give strong backing to it.

He singled out for commendation, the Kumasi South Hospital, for its initiative to start a penal transplant to help patients with erectile dysfunction.

The Committee visited KATH, the Kumasi South Hospital, the Regional Health Directorate, Ejisu-Juaben Government Hospital, Juaben Hospital, Effiduase District Hospital and an uncompleted Midwifery Training School at Asokore.