Health professionals take outreach to Keta Municipal Hospital

A team of more than 20 health professionals spanning many specializations practicing in the diaspora and other parts of Ghana of Volta descent have organised a health outreach to Keta Municipal Hospital.

It was under the auspices of the newly launched Volta Health Network (VHN), a heath development organisation of people of Volta descent to provide needed specialist medical services in obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery, urology, and cardiology, to people in the Municipality and its environs.

The twin event of the launch of VHN and the medical outreach had in attendance stakeholders including chiefs and queens, the Municipal Director of Health Services, and the beneficiary public, who underwent medical screening earlier pending the visit of the team.

Beneficiaries who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency expressed joy for the initiative to occasionally, bring specialists to provide services that were not available at the hospital and sometimes in the region, to their doorsteps at almost no cost to them.

Madam Dela Amegayibor, a beneficiary and resident of Keta thanked everyone who made the medical mission possible especially the Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, Member of Parliament (MP) for the area for his commitment to seeing to the health needs of his constituents.

Dr Francis Joojo Damalie, a member of the visiting medical team said it started as a dream with a few of them including the MP aimed at providing specialist care as a way of “giving back to our people and here we are today doing just that, and we have the support of the people.”

Togbi Dzelu IV, Dufia of Dzelukope in a speech to declare the VHN launched, commended the Network for mobilising health professionals to support health activities describing it as an ambitious response to the scarcity of specialists in the various health facilities in the region.

He thanked the visiting medical team for leaving their comfort zone to come to Keta to provide humanitarian service to the people while trusting that the efforts of the VHN would be regular and sustained thus, charged them to establish a good relationship with existing charitable organisations to support “identified viable and sustainable health projects dotted all over the region.”

Dr Anthoinette A. Ekuban, Medical Superintendent, Keta Municipal Hospital said management was overjoyed for the hospital’s choice for the maiden outreach and hoped it would become an annual event in the hospital to enable their clients access services they had to travel out for.

She said they were making efforts to improve on their service delivery through partnerships with organisations including MTN Foundation and appealed for the support of all stakeholders in addressing challenges of provision of medical equipment like dental chairs and patient monitors and replacing the obsolete generator in the 96-year-old hospital.

Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, MP for Keta said his dream was to give back to the region and this he intended to do by reaching out to top-notch researchers, professionals, and prominent people from the region to come together and work for the region.

He said that the health aspect was on course and that there were plans for other sectors including agriculture for the common good of the region.

Mr Leonard Yao Gobah, Secretary, VHN said their objective was to mobilise resources for outreach to health facilities across the region, support health professionals serving in the region and helping to provide medical supplies and equipment to improve on health delivery.

He said the Network was receiving donations from companies and interested persons from the region, “from the lowest in society to the highest in society” to support the initiative.

Source: NewsGhana