11-member West Gonja Catholic hospital advisory board inaugurated

11-member West Gonja Catholic hospital advisory board inaugurated

An 11-member Advisory Board of the West Gonja Catholic hospital has been inaugurated by the Bishop of the Diocese of Damongo, Most Rev. Peter Paul Angkyier, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital and the chairman of the Ghana Prisons Council.

The Board,which was inaugurated in Damongo,the Savannah Regional capital, is being chaired by the Very Rev. Daniel F. Saaka with membership drawn from wide expertise, who are mandated for the next four years to ensure the development and further growth of the hospital and facilitate the delivery of quality health care to the sick in the West Gonja Municipal.

The other members of the Advisory Board are: Frank Ameyaw Korsah; hospital administrator(Secretary),Lawyer Terence Ninnang, Ananpansah Bartholomew Abraham; Assemblyman for the Canteen Electoral Area, Chief Tolodompewura Abdallah Mornoh of CHRAJ, Zaabelle Matthew;manager of PAD FM, Ernestina Yirkyio Ziem, Peter Velerian Baapele; a retired Physician Assistant, Mahama Abdulai of the West Gonja Municipal Assembly, Gertrude Yetumi; Municipal Health Director and Fr. Clement Majeed Bakari.

In an inaugural speech,the Bishop of the Diocese said what has always made the Catholic Hospital unique is the commitment and strong missionary spirit of the management and staff to offer service to the sick.

He said a significant part of the work of the church was the ministry of healing and care for the sick, adding that," the vision of the church has always been to offer quality services to the people of this area and beyond, especially the poor and the underprivileged of society".

The man of God,who doubles as the CEO of the hospital pointed out that the church over the years has always been faithful in its commitment of offering service to the sick amidst the numerous challenges affecting the hospital, including infrastructure, resource mobilization(both human capital and economic resources) and logistics.

He acknowledged successive management of the hospital for their invaluable contributions and dedication towards the development of the facility between 1954 and today, notably: the Sisters of the St. Anne's from Wimbledon-London (1955 to 1974);most of whom are now diceased,the Sister Servants of the Hospital Spirit (SSps 1977 to 1999) and the Sisters of Mary Immaculate (1974 to 1977,and June 1999 to 2021).

According to him,the recent impasse involving nurses,health workers and management, including the sit down strike by medical officers has negatively affected the public image of the hospital, stressing that, staff and management motivation should not just be of material benefit,but the service rendered to the sick.

The Bishop expressed confidence in the expertise of the newly constituted board to work hard in sustaining the operations of the hospital and surmounting the challenges.

"Given the composition of the Board,I believe that you have the needed expertise and professional skills to bring the hospital from its present status to the next level of being a tertiary health provider.

In choosing you to serve on the Board,we have great expectations of you to enhance the growth and development of the St. Anne's Hospital. Our expectations of you would include the following:

'to support management mobilize resources for the development of the facility,give strategic direction and support management to implement their strategic plan formulated in 2015, enhance the hospital's public image, ensure effective management and planning, network, lobby and promote effective collaboration between the hospital and other key partners in health," he stressed.

The Chairman of the Advisory Board,Very Rev. Daniel F. Saaka, thanked the Bishop on behalf of all members and said the new board was going to take counsel and learn from the experiences of the old board.

He assured that the advisory board was going to strengthen the policies of the hospital and support the strategic vision of the facility by creating the road to achieving the vision of becoming a tertiary health care provider.

"We are all aware of the challenges of the hospital and all of us have learned our lessons and experiences. 

The main reason for the impasse was because the policies of the hospital were not being followed. The new board will ensure the policies of the hospital are well understood and followed to the letter,"he said.

He admonished the workers of the hospital to follow the laid down channels of communication in the hospital in addressing their grievances, and reiterated the commitment of the new board to come after any worker who decides to jump the channels of communication in an attempt to sow seeds of discord.

According to him,the current impasse has broken relationships in the hospital where people now perceive each other as enemies, and pledged the new board was up on its feet to monitor things closely to prevent manageable issues from degenerating into serious matters.

Whilst calling on the board members to work together, he assured the staff of the hospital that the board was here to work for them and not against them, adding that," we are ready to accept the challenge".

Source: Ananpansah Bartholomew Abraham