An ultra modern hospital theatre for the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital was commissioned at Bawku at the weekend. The facility which cost about GH¢ 247,605 is to help provide quality health services and training for medical students in the country. Mr. John Abugri, General Manager for the Northern Presbytery Health Services who jointly commissioned the facility with the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni noted that the hospital had over the years provided outpatient care, maternal and child health services. He said the hospital had continued to provide medical care and surgical interventions from a humble operating theatre which in modern times was too inadequate and fell below standards, considering the number of operations carried out at the hospital. Mr. Abugri said statistics indicated that in the past five years a total number of 6,955 comprising 3,639 minor surgeries and 3,316 major ones were performed. He indicated that the surgeries excluded 5,970 eye operations within the same period, and said it was against this backdrop that the facility was provided to reduce the pressure and provide quality health service in the area. He condemned the rumour peddled by some people that the hospital had been closed down due to the Bawku conflict and called for the support of stakeholders in the effort to obtain a surgeon to help with the conduct of surgical operations in the hospital. Mrs. Awuni noted that the project aimed not only at increasing health infrastructure but also to compliment government's efforts at making health care accessible to the people. Mrs. Awuni said government was relentlessly putting up health infrastructure throughout the country and disclosed that 45 community health planning services compounds (CHPS), 100-bed hospital with malarial research centre, five polyclinics, and 21 health centres had been provided nationwide to enhance health service delivery to the people. She mentioned that aside the infrastructural facility, government was also promoting the concept of regenerative health which was a preventive way of ensuring good health as an alternative to curative medicine. The Minister called on traditional leaders, land owners and families to release lands to enable government to put up more infrastructure such as accommodation for health workers to enable them to provide quality health care for the communities. Dr. John Kuku Awornoor-Williams, Regional Health Director, called on the people to do away with negative cultural beliefs and to report any suspected illness they found in their communities to the nearest health facility. Dr. Awornoor-Williams said many interventions which included the posting of seven medical doctors and a specialist in ENT to the Region had been put in place by the Health Ministry to provide quality healthcare service to the people. He commended the hospital staff for their dedication to work and assured them of better conditions of service. Source: GNA