The old students of St John's Grammar senior high school (JOSA) have commissioned a state-of-the-art sickbay to meet the health needs of students.

This project, according to the president of JOSA, Emmanuel Quarshie, was birthed after three old students saw the unpleasant state of the old sickbay.

According to him, students sometimes were sent out to the Achimota hospital for basic health care because of the poor nature of the old health facility.

“It was a single room, with two beds that were used by both male and female sick students, alongside the nurse,” he said at the commissioning.

He explained although the team immediately provided the bay with new beds and other necessitie,s the place got flooded during the rainy seasons.

Saddened by the occurrence, the team requested for a new place to furnish but was provided a bare land as there was no other place available due to infrastructure deficit, he stated.

“The year groups shared the cost. Some took care of the ceiling, another the louver blades and others chipped in for the building,” Mr Quarshie told the media.

The new health facility in the school has a male and female ward named after Rev Sam Korankye Ankrah, who the JOSA president explained, took majority of the cost and Elizabetth Otopah, respectively.

The wards house eight hospital beds each. The facility has a finished apartment for resident nurses who would be needed to look after the students at late hours and also a work in progress pharmacy.

Mr Quarshie added that the old students are looking into expanding the building in future. The focus, he said, is to get the facility to be named a clinic not only for the school but the community, furnished with a surgical room and many resident doctors and nurses.

Present at the event also was an old student, head pastor at the Royal House Chapel International, Rev Samuel Korankye Ankrah and Elizabeth Sackey.

Rev Korankye Ankrah tasked his fellow old students to help the school administration make some changes to school properties including the science lab and buying a new vehicle for the school to facilitate learning.

Also speaking at the event, was Assistant Headmistress in charge of Academics, Irene Ako-Aduonvo, who urged the old students to come back and help more.

She explained, the untarred road of the school makes it tedious for people to move freely when it rains.

“We need a Headmaster’s Bungalow and other things to make learning easier for these kids.

The school is grateful for the actions of these old students but we are hoping more would come and help,” Mrs. Ako-Adounvo added.