Dubbed, SAY THANK YOU, it is the hope of the foundation to mobilise funds worth GH?12 million between October 24 and November 24 to purchase various gifts including cash, to be presented to 10 healthcare personnel in each of the 758 selected health facilities in the country chosen for that purpose.

November 24 is the day set for that initiative and it is the hope of the organisers that subsequently, each year, that date would be used to celebrate healthcare personnel in the country.

Healthcare personnel

At the launch in Accra, a reporter and news anchor at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (which is supporting the initiative), Nana Achiaa Aboagye, said over the years, healthcare personnel had directly or indirectly received little or no appreciation during their entire working lives.

She said there had been instances where retired senior ranked healthcare personnel barely had enough to financially cater for their health and surprisingly, they were not even recognised by current health personnel at various places where they sought care with no preferential treatments.

Highlighting the important of healthcare personnel, she said well-equipped centres could never function on their own without them.

“It is in the light of this that the foundation has embarked on this noble initiative to appreciate the individuals rather than the health facilities.

SAY THANK YOU to a health personnel from the physician to the cleaner with your kind words or in kind at the nearest healthcare facility to you come November 24.

 Appreciating these personnel helps them to improve on their shortfalls and collectively we shall enjoy quality care,” she said.

Mobilising the funds

A nurse at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH), Kofi Adams, said the GH?12 million the foundation was targeting to raise would be done through various companies, individuals and government associations.

He said SAY THANK YOU allowed every one outside the organising team willing to enter any other facility aside from the selected 758 to be at liberty to do that without necessarily seeking the group’s permission with their gifts and kind words.

The Medical Director of the GARH, Dr Emmanuel Srofenyo, said the initiative had come at a critical time in the country where healthcare workers were exodusing to other jurisdictions, pointing out that “our appreciation and attitudes presently could help turn the tide”.

The unveiling of the logo of the foundation was done by Vanuatu’s Trade Commissioner to Ghana, Professor Dr Hugh K Aryee.