The Board Chairman of the College of Health, Yamfo (CoHY) in the Tano North District of the Ahafo Region, has said the lack of adequate infrastructure and human capital support for the institution is hampering the effort to train health professionals.

Joseph Addae Akwaboah said getting assistance from the government and other stakeholders would accelerate the realization of the school’s vision, hence appealed for help.

He was speaking at the maiden congregation of the college which aims to train and educate health professionals who are highly skilled and knowledgeable, well-motivated, and capable of providing quality healthcare service to all manner of persons by applying modern technological principles.

As a young academic institution, Mr. Addae Abwaboah said they are struggling with the lack of hostel facilities for students, central administration, a bigger bus for students' clinical training purposes, and limited teaching faculties.

Other challenges, he said, are poor internal road network, encroachment on the school’s land, lack of fenced wall to ensure security, and large casual workers with a huge drain on the college’s Internally Generated Funds.

The Board Chairman, however, said the Board and the institution’s management have initiated some steps to help resolve some of the teething challenges.

This, he said, “includes the completion and commissioning of a 540 students capacity hostel block, increasing the water supply on campus to about 130,000 liters, procurement of a minibus to enhance transportation, among others”.

“However, we once more call on all our stakeholders, including NGOs, to continue assisting us so we can realize our vision and mission as an institution”, Mr. Addae Akwaboah appealed.

He hinted that they intend to run innovative and problem-solving academic programs such as BSc in Environmental Health, Medical Lab Science, Health Promotion, Optician, and Epidemiology shortly, having already submitted the respective curriculum for these programs to the Ministry of Health waiting for approval.

Lawrence Odartey, a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Health, assured the institution that he would communicate the challenges enumerated to the appropriate offices and initiate discussions with the right authorities for the needed actions to be taken.

He, however, said the ministry would continue to work with agencies and partners to ensure quality education in the health Training institutions. He urged the fresh graduate to cultivate the right attitude for quality service delivery.

CoHY is affiliated with Cape Coast University and has fully accredited programs regulated by the Medical and Dental Council and Allied Health Professions Council of Ghana.

Established in 2015 with 250 students, CoHY now has a population of 1,518, and the Director of the institution, Mohammed Ibrahim, said they could only admit 817 students out of the over 1,500 qualified applicants for the 2021/22 academic year.

He observed that the sharp and steady increase in the yearly admission figures requires an upgrade in infrastructure and the human resource base of the college.

The maiden congregation involving the 2019 to 2021 batches had 510 students who graduated with degrees in Physician Assistantship, Health Information Management, Community Health Nutrition, and Community Mental health.

Mr. Ibrahim revealed that while the 2021 batch is yet to write their licensure examination, the 2019 and 2020 year group performed remarkably well when they sat for the professional exams.

He acknowledged their affiliated institution for performing all its responsibilities as required by the affiliation agreement.

Graduand, Herbert Alemiya Asakiya said for them to have enrolled at the time the school had nothing showed courage and a desire to acquire knowledge to serve.

Awards were given to the best deserving students from all departments of the school with Herbert Alemiya Asakiya adjudged as the 2019 overall best graduating student, while Lady Dede Odikro and Eric Amankwaah for 2021 and 2020 respectively.