Managers of the Kumawu Polyclinic in the Ashanti Region have been forced to halt most of its operations following Monday’s downpour that ripped off the facility’s roofing sheets.
It also led to the destruction of files, medical supplies and equipment.
Electricity connection in many parts of the facility has been affected.
The Out Patient Department (OPD), Emergency Ward, Pharmacy and all other areas except the female and paediatric wards have been rendered non-operational.
As a result, patients at the emergency and male wards have been moved to the female ward.
The District Director of Health Services, Lawrence Adinku who spoke to Citi News said the incident has adversely affected their operations.
“I must say that this has really affected the facility’s activities to a large extent. After the storm on Monday, we have most of our electrical and medical equipment being destroyed. Now, we can talk of about 6 computers that have been affected by the rain for which we don’t know whether these computers can work or not. We are yet to assess that. Also, when you get to the pharmacy shops, you can see a number of drugs have been affected by the rain and some other medical products. Beyond that, the folders and some valuable books were destroyed.”
“When you get to the ward, as we speak, the emergency ward and the male ward have all been affected. We had to move all the patients to one room. That is –the females, paediatrics and males are all in one ward, which I think is really a problem. That is the way we are doing things now. Going forward, we will look at how to look for other spaces so that we can decongest the place and move the patients to other places so that service can begin to work normal as it used to be”.
As the main referral facility in the Sekyere Kumawu District which serves over 60 communities in the area, many people who visited the facility were stranded as doctors had to erect makeshift structures for consultation in the open.
The acting Medical Superintendent of the facility, Dr. Alex Agbanu, wants authorities to ensure that the situation is attended to as early as possible.
Meanwhile, the District Coordinating Director who visited the scene with the District Chief Executive, John Ankrah, says the Assembly has taken inventory of the items that have been damaged, to ensure that the situation is addressed immediately.
