The Building Is Now A Threat To Both Pregnant And Nursing Mothers
Author: Frank Akwaboah Boateng
There is a looming danger that poses a death trap for innocent pregnant and nursing mothers who frequently patronize Ghana’s premier Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for healthcare attention as its maternity block is now a point of death due to its devastating nature.
Since its commission about five decades ago, the facility has not undergone any major renovation, and officials of the hospital remain grossly adamant and unconcern about the block which is near its feet, creating a grave danger that poses a death trap for both innocent pregnant and nursing mothers who frequently patronise the facility.
Patrons’ especially pregnant and nursing mothers on several occasions have raised alarm over the fragility and cracks which have boldly been developed all over the building.
According to the patrons, several concerns were raised to authorities of the hospital for the necessary remedies to be administered but all fell on deaf ears where the magnitude of the cracks are such that, pregnant and nursing mothers have to say their last prayers whenever they visit the facility.
The building has reached a point where almost all the mosquito nets have been removed mostly pushing patrons to either bring in their mosquito nets to keep their babies to avoid being bitten by the dozens of mosquitos and dangerous insects and reptiles that have comfortably found the maternity block as their everlasting abode.
The toilets are in a very disdainful and awful state that makes it uncomfortable for mothers to use whenever they visit the block as the toilet seats, plumbing and drainage systems are very horrible to witness.
The tiles on most of the floors at the block have been in very bad condition for years without any attention given to the block.
A frustrated and livid staff who gave her name as Kwasimaa Amoah chided the Board and Management of the Kole Bu Teaching Hospital for their gross ineptitude in seeing to the rapid deterioration of the building while they focused on unnecessary activities which do not merit the well-being of their clients.
The staff also took the president and his appointees to cleaners over what she termed as an ‘empty-condemned’ bunch of incompetent executives who instead of focusing on addressing a major challenge like fixing the maternity block, putting up over $300 Million Bank of Ghana headquarters for their selfish political aggrandizement to the detriment of the masses.
Madam Josephine Yeboah a sixty-two-year-old pensioner who came to visit a relative who was on admission at the block could not hide her displeasure, saying this was her third visit within ten years and still come to meet the same bad condition that the maternity block had a decade ago.
She could not fathom why governments both past and present turn a blind eye to such an important facility which serves as a life-saving point for newborn babies and their mothers but rather spend on irrelevant projects just to satisfy their means as they can afford to cost of medical expenses outside the country.
Most patients who were on admission at the time of filing this report appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency attend to the maternity block by ensuring that the building is renovated to enable avert a near-foreseen disaster.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attention was drawn to immediately call authorities of the Kole Bu Teaching Hospital to order relating to the deplorable state of the building to help save innocent lives.
Efforts to reach out to authorities especially the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the hospital to comment on this revelation prove futile with a flimsy excuse by a staff of the PR department that his boss has been engaged and would not be able to attend to reporters on this matter.
More to come soon.
Frank Akwaboah Boateng
Healthcare Delivery Freelance Reporter
Accra
Email: anllyake@gmail.com
