The Half Asini Government Hospital in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, the last and only hospital facility within the Western corridor close to the Ivorian border, has no ambulance to convey emergency referral cases to the Effia Nkwanta Hospital in Takoradi.

Half Asini is the capital of the Jomoro district located almost 200 kilometers from Takoradi.

The absence of the ambulance service means patients who are referred to the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital have to be transported in commercial vehicles, a situation health workers say has resulted in the loss of several lives.

The Half Asini Government Hospital was established as a clinic in 1973 and was converted into a hospital in the following year.

It is currently the main healthcare providing institution in the Jomoro district serving as a referral centre for all clinics in the area.

The Health Service Administrator at the hospital, Mr Godswell Quarshie, says the absence of an ambulance service at the hospital is just one of the myriads of problems affecting healthcare delivery in the district.

“Our generator is giving us a problem; if they could donate a generator to this hospital, [it will] ensure that we have stability in the flow of power to work,” he indicated.

The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Linda Van Otoo, appealed to NGOs and philanthropists and other organizations interested in supporting healthcare delivery to donate ambulances to the hospital.

She was however of the opinion that any such ambulance must be in good condition to avoid breakdowns.

Inadequate accommodation for healthcare providers is another problem affecting effective healthcare delivery in the district.

Only 28 out of 70 doctors and nurses in the district are accommodated, Joy News’ correspondent Kwaku Owusu Preprah indicated.

The hospital has no laundry machines, thus hospital sheets and theatre gowns have to be washed with bare human hands.

Because the facility is not walled, private developers have started encroaching on the hospital’s land.

Story by Kwaku Owusu Peprah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana