A senior Midwifery Officer at the Tokurano Health Centre in the Krachi East District in the Oti Region, Egbeegbe Anagbonu, has been awarded the best health worker at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Excellence Awards.
The awards ceremony, held in Accra last week, recognised 66 facilities and individuals for their outstanding contribution to healthcare delivery in the country.
The awards comprised 18 General Staff Awards, 14 Leadership Excellence Awards, 18 Institutional Awards and 15 Special Awards for development partners and Organisations that contribute to healthcare delivery in the country.
Present at the ceremony were the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah.
Mrs Akufo-Addo commended the country’s healthcare workers for their commitment and dedication to healthcare delivery.
She noted the exceptional sacrifices that were made by health workers across the country over the years, especially throughout the covid-19 pandemic.
The First Lady lauded the idea to recognise the hard work of health workers and stressed the need to acknowledge their efforts through award schemes.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the awards were an integral part of the staff welfare and performance management system, designed to recognise and celebrate outstanding performance at both individual and institutional levels.
The awards, he said, sought to instil patriotism and professionalism among dedicated health workers as well as to promote a culture of achievement and retain health professionals in deprived areas.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the awards were also aimed at enhancing customer care and promoting patient satisfaction which aligned with the tenets of the Network of Practice, a GHS flagship programme that strives to maximise performance in the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
He explained that an awards scheme for healthcare providers became more relevant during the wake of the covid-19 pandemic when health workers emerged as unsung heroes with their unwavering commitment and resilience despite challenging circumstances.
The awards scheme was structured such that the competition started at the district level and moved to the regional level.
Winners at the district and regional levels competed at the national level for the grand awards.
In all, 1,779 honours were distributed across district, regional and national levels which cut across all levels of healthcare as well as all categories of health staff.