Builsa North MP, James Agalga, has described the deplorable state of the Sandema Hospital as sickening and needs to be salvaged immediately.

“Our hospital is sick and needs to be treated. If patients have to come to a facility which is sick, then you can understand what the ramifications are,” he said at a brief ceremony to hand over a refurbished paediatric ward to the management of the hospital.

Mr Agalga refurbished the ward, estimated at a cost of GH¢377,612.60, from his share of the MPs' Common Fund.

Before the renovation, the ward was in a deplorable state, just as the current state of the hospital, with visible cracks and peeled off paint from the walls, broken louvre blades, torn wire mesh, and broken doors of some units, especially the wards.

Portions of the roof also leaked when it rained, coupled with visibly exposed electrical cables, obsolete medical equipment, and creaking floors, among other structural defects.

The 95-year-old hospital was established in 1930 to cater for the health needs of residents, and was later upgraded to a Health Centre in 1970, and subsequently became a District Hospital in 1992 without any major renovation works to date.

It may be recalled that on September 4, 2023, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) first brought the plight of the hospital, which serves the entire Builsa North Municipality, parts of the Kassena-Nankana West District and Mamprugu Moagduri District in the North East Region, and some communities in the Upper West Region to bear, but had not received any major facelift.

At the ceremony, Mr Agalga disclosed that he held several meetings with Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister for Health, on the state of the hospital, following which a technical team was dispatched to inspect the state of the hospital.

“So, it will not be long, the facility will see a facelift,” the MP, who is the Chairman of the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, assured constituents and management of the facility.

He said owing to the deplorable nature of the paediatric ward, he was compelled to take “immediate and decisive” action to renovate the ward pending the expected refurbishment of the entire facility.

He commended Mr Solomon Ansoabyie Akogti, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, the Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the hospital’s Medical Superintendent and management for their supervisory role, which resulted in the completion of the work.

He noted that their keen inspection resulted in the timely delivery of the work.

“The works have actually been completed in record time, and that was what I wished for,” he said, adding that his Office and the Assembly would continue to collaborate to ensure that the hospital’s infrastructure was improved.

“I want to pledge that we shall do whatever is within our power to at least improve upon the infrastructure and this facility. We will not hesitate to do that,” the MP said.

The MCE for the area thanked the MP for the gesture and stressed the need for the staff of the hospital to ensure that the renovated facility was kept neat and maintained to serve its intended purpose.

Mr Cabral Vwawojei Bantiu, the Builsa North Municipal Director of the GHS, who received the refurbished facility on behalf of management of the hospital, acknowledged and thanked the MP for his continuous support to the hospital and the GHS in the Municipality.

He assured the MP, MCE and officials from the Assembly that the facility would be properly maintained to serve the intended purpose, and appealed for more support for the hospital to catch up with other facilities in the country.