St. Elizabeth Hospital seeks support for emergency ward upgrade
Rising pressure on emergency healthcare services at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Hwediem has prompted management to embark on an ambitious fundraising campaign aimed at transforming one of the facility’s most critical departments.
Hospital authorities are seeking financial and material support to expand the institution’s emergency ward from its current seven-bed capacity to a proposed 30-bed facility while simultaneously replacing aging medical equipment that staff say has become increasingly inadequate for modern healthcare delivery.
For decades, the Catholic health institution has played a pivotal role in serving communities beyond the Ahafo Region. Originally established in 1956 as a treatment centre for smallpox, the hospital has evolved into a major referral facility with a capacity of 110 beds, receiving patients from the Bono, Western, Western North and parts of the Ashanti regions.
However, management says growing patient numbers have exposed significant limitations within the emergency department, where space constraints and outdated equipment continue to challenge healthcare workers.
Speaking during the launch of the fundraising initiative in Hwediem on Friday, May 30, Head of the Emergency Unit, Stephen Nsiah Kwaku, said the current state of the department has placed considerable strain on both patients and staff.
According to him, emergency personnel have had to work for years with obsolete equipment while operating within a ward that can accommodate only a handful of patients at a time. The situation, he noted, has occasionally left the hospital with no option but to transfer critical cases to other facilities.
He explained that the proposed expansion would significantly strengthen emergency response capabilities and improve the quality of care available to residents across the hospital’s catchment area.
Among the equipment urgently required are nebulising machines, blood pressure monitors, dermatology analysers and a central oxygen supply system, all of which are considered essential for effective emergency care.
The fundraising campaign has already attracted support from traditional authorities and several institutions. Addressing the gathering, Akwamuhene of the Hwediem Traditional Council, Baffour Adjei Fofie, praised the hospital’s longstanding contribution to healthcare and encouraged broader public participation in the project.
He appealed to individuals, businesses and organisations to support the initiative either through financial contributions or direct donations of construction materials and medical equipment.
A number of institutions have already pledged support for the project, including the Hwediem Traditional Council, Underground Mining Alliance-Subika, Angel Group of Companies, the Asutifi South District Assembly, the Catholic Church and the National Health Insurance Authority.
To complement the fundraising effort, hospital staff organised a health walk to commemorate Emergency Medicine Day under the theme, “Every Second Counts: Improving Emergency Service Delivery.” The event was intended to raise public awareness about the challenges facing the emergency unit and the need for community support.
Hospital Manager, Sister Georgina Lawrencia Quayson, said the expansion project has become necessary as patient attendance continues to increase.
She stressed the need to eliminate situations where patients are denied admission because of inadequate bed space or equipment failures, noting that the hospital must continue to adapt to the growing healthcare needs of the population.
The urgency of the project was further underscored by Nurse Manager Gladys Bediako, who recounted occasions when patients requiring emergency treatment had to be cared for on the floor due to overcrowding.
She warned that transferring critically ill patients to distant facilities often comes with significant risks and said expanding and retooling the ward remains the most practical solution to improving emergency healthcare outcomes.
Management is therefore appealing to philanthropists, corporate organisations and well-wishers both in Ghana and abroad to contribute towards the project, which they believe will strengthen emergency healthcare delivery for thousands of people who depend on the facility each year.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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