St Martin's de Porres Hospital registers, renews NHIS cards of residents in Krobo

The St. Martin's de Porres Hospital at Agormanya in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region has registered and renewed the health insurance cards of some 1904 people within the Krobo area.

Members of the public, including children and the elderly, benefited from the exercise.

The objective of the registration exercise was to help people who were grappling with accessing basic healthcare have unrestricted access to medical care.

Speaking in an interview, the Head of the Health Information Unit, Raphael Kwame Alaglo, said the exercise forms part of the hospital's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

He said the exercise sought to render assistance and support to the average person who couldn't pay for their medical expenses.

According to him, most clients came to the facility either with no NHIS cards or expired ones.

"We're motivated to take this exercise because we serve the community of Lower Manya Krobo and beyond, and we also realize that some of our cherished clients and patients, when they get here, either do not have NHIS cards or their cards have expired," he said.

The Head of the Health Information Unit, while stressing that the facility does not run a cash-and-carry system, observed that most patients were unable to settle their medical bills.

The situation, he said, compels the facility to absorb the cost of treatment for some patients.

The administrator of St. Martin's de Porres Hospital, Emmanuel Bosompim, explained in an interview that the dwindling number of NHIS card holders made it difficult for them to access healthcare.

"From the annual performance review, we realized that the NHIS clients had gone down and upon some investigations, we realized that most of them have had their cards expired, which makes it difficult for them to access healthcare services",

he said.

He was hopeful that the registration and renewal would ensure a healthy and productive society.

Assistant PRO of Manya Krobo Health Insurance, who led his staff to undertake the exercise at the hospital premises, observed that taking such registration exercises to the doorstep of the people is much more effective than the clients walking into the office.

He urged Ghanaians to ensure that their health insurance cards are always ready to enable them to have access to health services in times of emergency.