President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed the government’s commitment to improve the health facilities at Nsoatre in the Bono Region to cater for the health needs of residents there.
The President made the pledge in response to a request by a delegation from the Nsoatre Traditional Council who called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
The council appealed to the government to construct the Sunyani West District Hospital at Nsoatre, instead of Odumase, the district capital.
The delegation argued that the district hospital, which is part of the 88 district hospitals to be constructed by the government, will better serve the needs of the people of Nsoatre, instead of Odumase.
They explained further that Odumase has no genuine need to host the district hospital because there are four major government hospitals surrounding Odumase, including the Sunyani Regional Hospital.
According to them, the cluster of four government hospitals around Nsoatre are scattered within a 16-kilometre radius, adding that “a district hospital cited at Odumase will only become a white elephant” because they have no genuine need for another major government hospital.
Nsoatre on the other hand, they said, has a population of over 26,000 in 35 communities, with a single health centre which receives over 2,700 patients every month.
The council noted that Nsoatre usually records numerous emergency situations and indicated that a district hospital cited at Nsoatre will better serve the needs of the people and surrounding communities.
The Traditional Council promised to donate a land if the government decides to cite the hospital there and gave the assurance that the youth will support the construction of the facility.
President Akufo-Addo said the government will consider their request but did not make any emphatic pledge to grant it.
He said although the Traditional Council has made a genuine case, district hospitals are usually cited at district capitals.
President Akufo-Addo, however, assured that in the event that the government is unable to grant the request after its considerations, it will definitely upgrade the facilities at the health centre to make it a decent health facility.
BY YAW KYEI