Teshie residents oppose relocation of Community Clinic

Residents of Teshie Maamli in the Ledzokuku Constituency are opposing a directive by the Ministry of Health to relocate the Teshie Community Clinic.

The directive, which is to make way for rehabilitation works at the clinic, has been met with opposition from residents who described the directive as ill-timed.

In a letter sighted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Ministry directed the management of the clinic to urgently relocate to a new place to make way for rehabilitation works.

The letter, dated October 16, 2024, and signed by Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, the Minister of Health and the New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Candidate for the area, cited a significant increase in population that has placed pressure on the facility as the reason for the relocation.

It said, “The Teshie community has seen a significant increase in population, thereby putting pressure on the facility.”

The residents, however, are of the view that the relocation will gravely affect them as the facility is their major health service provider, especially for pregnant women and children in the community.

Nii Boye Martey, a resident who spoke to the GNA, said while they did not oppose rehabilitation works on the clinic per se, “the timing was bad, considering the fact that the facility was renovated and re-equipped about six months ago by Mr. Benjamin Narteh Ayiku, the incumbent Member of Parliament.”

He also indicated that the LEKMA Hospital, which is the nearest referral center, had been under immense pressure following the reconstruction of the La General Hospital some seven years ago, hence the need for the ministry to reconsider the directive.

When the GNA visited the clinic on Monday morning, the clinic was running, as patients from the community were being attended to.

Some Assembly Members in the Ledzokuku Municipality, who held a press conference last Thursday, expressed displeasure at the Health Minister’s directive to rehabilitate the Teshie Community Clinic.

Addressing a press conference at the forecourt of the Community Clinic, Mr. Samuel Laryea, the Assembly Member for the Akror West Electoral area, said the availability of another health facility in the area would have been the ideal thing for the ministry to do.

He stated that the experiences with the reconstruction of the La General Hospital, which was yet to be operational after nearly seven years, gave them reasons to be worried.

He noted that until a suitable alternative was made, they would resist any move that would affect the Community Clinic, which has been in operation for some 25 years now.