The Tema General Hospital (TGH) is gradually becoming unable to effectively handle the health needs of patients who turn up there for care, due to the poor state of its infrastructure and other facilities.
The hospital, the main referral point for most health centres in Tema and its environs, has not seen any major rehabilitation or expansion, since its construction in 1954, leading to the stretching of the existing infrastructure to meet the needs of the increasing population.
The Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Kraku II has therefore called on the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to expand and upgrade the hospital's infrastructure to enable it to deliver proper health care.
Nii Kraku noted that the hospital would not be able to operate effectively if measures were not put in place to improve upon its current state of its buildings since "every department is crying for expansion."
He made the request when the Tema Traditional Council (TTC) presented assorted medical supplies worth US$50,000 to the hospital.
The items were donated by a group of people from Tema, who reside in the USA.
The items included theatre gowns, bed sheets, laboratory equipments, stethoscopes, blood pressure apparatus, syringes and surgical equipment among others.
The Tema Mantse said the hospital had a professional staff that must be motivated through the provision of the needed environment, including proper accommodation.
He added that TGH had a large stretch of land that could be used for expansion projects to improve on its services.
Bishop Samuel Williams, representative of the group said the items were their contribution towards the provision of quality health care for the residents of Tema.
Dr Mrs Charity Sarpong, Medical Superintendent of TGH, who received the items, thanked the donors for the gesture and called on other stakeholders to emulate them.
She reiterated the need for the expansion and rehabilitation of the hospital facilities to enable its staff to improve upon their services.