La General Hospital Inaugurates Emergency Unit

The management of La General Hospital in collaboration with the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, have inaugurated a reconstructed five-bedroom Emergency Unit to serve the needs of patients in critical condition.

The Hospital also commissioned an incinerator, a waste management facility and a walkway to link the Out Patients Department to the wards.

Dr. Ebenezer Oduro Mensah, the Medical Superintendent, La General Hospital, said the emergency rooms were renovated due to the unfortunate gas explosion that occurred near the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre at La which claimed nine lives.

He said as part of holistic measures to deal with the disaster, the government supported the hospital with 60 per cent funding, whilst the hospital through its Internally Generated Fund (IGF) contributed 40 per cent to renovate and raise the Emergency Unit to meet international standards.

Dr. Mensah said the old Emergency Unit was in a bad state, with no privacy for patient’s care, a situation where passers-by could see what was going on in the Emergency Ward, saying; “We felt that our clients should have a decent place when they are brought to the hospital”.

He said the new Emergency Ward would accommodate five patients, explaining that it was meant as a stabilization unit for patients, and afterwards they would be moved to the ward for medical attention.

Dr. Mensah, who is also a Family Physician, said the Hospital had to convert the Cholera Unit, which was supported by the Danish Embassy to a General Ward to provide adequate bed space for patient care.

“As a result of the conversion, management of the hospital through their IGF constructed a walkway to link that structure with their main hospital unit so that patients can access the facility,” he added.

Dr. Mensah said in 2016, the incinerator for disposal of waste in the hospital broke down, and appealed to the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly for support to construct an ultra-modern waste facility for the hospital.

He said the Hospital with support from the Assembly constructed the new multi-purpose incinerator for waste management in the hospital, since waste disposal had been a serious challenge for the hospital.

Dr. Mensah said the Hospital converted their storeroom into a Physiotherapy Unit, adding that construction is underway and due to be completed in 2018 to serve patients with physiotherapy problems.

He said the Hospital has two physiotherapists operating from a small consulting room, adding that the yet to be completed unit would offer physiotherapy services to patients within the La environs, so that they no more have to go to LEKMA Hospital or Ridge hospital for services.

He said management would in 2018 concentrate on renovating old structures of the Hospital such as the mortuary and laboratory, to ensure that the facility is in a decent state for clients’ care.

Dr. Mensah said the Hospital did not do well in terms of maternal mortality, and hopes to improve its care in reducing maternal and new born deaths as well as improve its clients’ service rapport.

He said the management as part of its yearly programmes had engaged the community leaders to interact with them about their activities for 2017, and plans for 2018, and solicit feedback from the community to factor them into their plan of action in 2018.

Madam Gladys Tsotsoo Mann-Dedey, Municipal Chief Executive for the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, was impressed with the infrastructural development in the hospital, and pledged their support to improve health care delivery in the La community.

Source: GNA