The Tain District Hospital, located in Nsawkaw within the Bono Region, faces a shutdown tendency due to the termination of its electricity supply by the Volta River Authority (VRA).
Accumulating a debt of over GHC2 million owed to the VRA over a span of four months, from May to September 2023, the hospital experienced power disconnection on Friday, October 13, 2023. This action was a result of the outstanding debt related to the $36.6 million 60-bed hospital.
Subsequently, the hospital’s management has been forced to utilize a power plant, incurring a cost of GHC 15,000 for fuel as of Tuesday, October 17, 2023. This financial burden is proving to be unsustainable and exacerbates the hospital’s existing financial challenges.
Dr. Philip Taah-Amoako, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, laments that this ongoing situation severely hampers their ability to efficiently provide high-quality healthcare services to the community.
“As it stands now, electricity to the hospital has been disconnected because we are indebted to VRA and this is having a negative impact on us because we are unable to discharge on our core mandate”.
Dr. Taah-Amoako further states that if the current circumstances persist, the hospital’s management will be forced to initiate the closure of the facility in the upcoming days.
“If the situation remains like this, we will have to close the hospital down within the next 48 hours because the pressure is unbearable”.
Two newborns lost.
He expresses distress that apart from having to refer cases elsewhere, the hospital has tragically lost two newborns since the disconnection occurred last week.
The way forward
He urgently calls for authorities to step in and facilitate the swift restoration of power to the hospital, enabling the provision of essential healthcare services to the residents of Nsawkaw and its environs.
In the meantime, investigations by GhanaWeb reveal that the hospital has been in debt to the VRA, accumulating an amount of GHC6.4 million since 2021.