Minister urges Ghanaians to patronize quasi-gov’t hospitals

Mr Alex Segbefia, the Minister of Health, on Wednesday urged members of the public to patronize quasi-government hospitals and the various Catholic hospitals across the country, as the strike by doctors continued.

He said such hospitals provided quality healthcare, as they had the required facilities, and mostly accepted the National Health Insurance card.

Mr Segbefia said this when he paid a working visit to some government hospitals in Accra to ascertain the impact of the strike declared by members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) over their conditions of service.

The hospitals he visited were the Korle Bu Teaching, 37 Military, the Police and the Tema General.

He said the patronage of such quasi-government hospitals would help ease the pressure on the facilities at the Police and 37 Military hospitals which could then act as referrals.

“There are many quasi-government hospitals such as Cocoa Clinic and that of the Volta River Authority, and I will urge members of the public to patronize such facilities as they provide quality healthcare and mostly accept the National Health Insurance card,” he said.

Mr Segbefia, however, appealed to the striking doctors to return to work, while they continued to negotiate with government, adding that the strike was illegal, and it was important that they returned to help save lives.

He said the Ministry, would as a matter of urgency, provide beds, mattresses and other consumables, to help cater for the increasing number of patients vising the Police and 37 military hospitals.