Mr Stephen Bordotsiah, the outgoing Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is spearheading the construction of a diagnostic laboratory and disease control unit at the Sumbrungu Health Centre to improve healthcare delivery in the area.

The initiative was driven by his personal sacrifice and staff support, and has transformed the facility, which serves as a referral centre for many Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds within the municipality.

Mr Bordotsiah donated all his allowances from one of the mass vaccination campaigns in 2024 to start the project after several appeals to the community for support proved futile.

His example motivated all 54 supervisors in the municipality and all staff at the Bolgatanga Health Directorate, who each contributed GH¢100.00 towards the construction of the facility attached to the Health Centre.

The director also sought support from a few philanthropists in Bolgatanga who provided cement, roofing sheets and other building materials, electrical materials, plumbing and plastering materials while workers at the directorate and the health centre offered free labour to ensure timely completion of the facility.

Currently, the Sumbrungu Health Centre, which serves as one of the hubs of the Network of Practice (No) initiative in the Bolgatanga Municipality, lacks a diagnostic laboratory to carry out basic tests such as malaria, typhoid, HP, urine, and stool analysis, among others.

Over the years, this situation has compelled patients to rely on private facilities for such services, often at high cost.

Others have been forced to travel long distances to the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga, putting additional strain on the referral facility.

Mr Bordotsiah, who has now been transferred to the Bawku West District as the District Health Director, but still working to ensure its completion, expressed gratitude to all supervisors, staff at the directorate, health workers in the area and philanthropists for their generosity and support towards the project.

He said: “Sumbrungu Health Centre is one of the oldest health facilities in the municipality but lacked basic diagnostic services. We did not have a lab, and yet it is serving a few CHPS zones here.

“So, we engaged a number of people in the community, but the support was not coming, and so we decided to take it upon ourselves and raised over GH¢6,000.00 to start the project. Just this week, two businessmen came in to support us to complete the project.”

He added that staff were already on standby to man the facility and noted that it would be ready for use soon.

Madam Christiana Tibil, the Physician Assistant in charge of the Sumbrungu East Sub-Municipality, commended Mr Bordotsiah for his exemplary leadership in improving healthcare delivery in the area and the municipality in general.

She said completion and operation of the diagnostic laboratory and disease control unit would significantly enhance healthcare delivery, improve early disease detection, and reduce the financial burden on vulnerable households in the area, while giving meaning to the NoP initiative.

She, however, appealed for the renovation of the health centre, which she said was in a deplorable state and lacked adequate space for all units to deliver quality services.