The Bui Power Authority (BPA) has inaugurated an office complex for the Banda District Health Directorate at Banda Ahenkro in the Bono Region.

The provision of the office accommodation is to meet the growing demand for critical services and the changing needs of the health system in the area.

The facility consists of offices for the Human Resource and General Administration, Finance, Disease Control, Health Information, Public Health and Accounts office.

Other crucial facilities include a cold room to store essential vaccines and a conference hall to hold meetings.

Limited offices

The directorate, which started operations in 2013, had a dilapidated office accommodation which was also inadequate.

Until, the construction of the new facility, departments were compelled to lump together in a single office to undertake daily activities.

For example, the District Director of Health and Accountant were using one office, while more than 10 officers from different departments were also operating from another single office.

The directorate said the situation negatively affected its operations and ability to meet the growing demand for critical services in the health sector.

Inaugurating the facility, the Chief Executive Officer of the authority, Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi, said the BPA was deeply committed to making a positive impact in the lives of residents in the communities it operated in.

He said the authority was currently undertaking several projects within the Bui enclave, such as the Bui Sugar Factory.

Mr Dzamesi disclosed that the BPA had completed an additional 5-megawatt Floating Solar PV System, which was the largest in the West Africa sub-region.

He said investments made in the communities over the years were to enhance development and sustain the relationship between the BPA and communities within the enclave.

He said plans were far advanced for the construction of an Astro Turf at Bui to encourage sporting activities and groom potential professional footballers in the area.

Mr Dzamesi further pledged the commitment and support of the BPA to invest more in the development of the area.

Modern technology

The Banda District Director of Health, Simon Kofi Adams, said the cold room attached to the new office would be equipped with modern technology and equipment to store vaccines that were needed to meet the changing needs of the health system.

He, therefore, appealed to the BPA to connect the facility to its grid to solve the problem of intermittent power outages to protect the vaccines.

He explained that the refrigerators for vaccines needed constant power supply and service.

“I charge you to remain steadfast in the discharge of your duty,” Mr Adams told the health professionals.

He called on the authority to stock the facility with furniture and air conditioners to make the project  complete.

Mr Adams said the facility would help provide a conducive working space for the staff, improve health services and increase their productivity.

“We will strive to ensure that we do not just create access to medical services but make sure that they are efficient and readily available to our people in need.

So, I implore everyone present here to collaborate with us and join hands in creating a healthy society,” he stated.

Presentation

The authority also presented medical items to the BPA Hospital at Jama in the Bole District in the Savannah Region.

The items, valued at $60,000, included an ultrasound machine and gel, a side bed desk, gallons of surgical grade rubbing alcohol and detergents, among others.

The facility was constructed by BPA and it is being managed by the New Leaf Hospital to respond to the needs of BPA staff and residents in the area.

The Osiakwanhene of the Banda Traditional Area, Nana Bankuadi, appealed to the authority to construct children and female wards at the Banda Health Centre to improve services to children and women in the area.

For his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) in the area, Ahmed Ibrahim, said he had secured GH¢7 billion to construct 24 houses (staff village) to accommodate staff and a theatre at the health centre so that it would be upgraded to a polyclinic.

Mr Ibrahim said the staff village project was valued at GH¢3 million to accommodate nurses, assembly workers and security personnel.

The Bono Regional Director of Health, Dr Kofi Amo-Kodieh, appealed to the BPA, the MP and the Banda District Assembly to construct pavements to improve the environment at the facility. 

SOURCE: GraphicOnline