Need for public-private partnership in health care

26-09-09

THE Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, has called for an effective public-private partnership in the delivery of health care in the country.
That, he said, was to complement the government’s efforts in health care.
Dr Sory made the call when he inaugurated a health facility at New Bortianor, off the Malam-Kasoa road.
The facility, Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre, provides medical services in general surgery, general medicine, radiology, dental services, obstetrics and gynaecology and assisted reproduction technology, including invitro fertilisation.
The 55-bed facility has two theatres, four consulting rooms, seven executive rooms, 14 double-bed rooms, a twin double room, a nursery, a pharmacy and a state-of-the-art embryology laboratory, among other facilities.
Dr Sory, who represented the Vice President, Mr John Mahama, said the provision of health care was very important to the citizenry, thus the need for the private sector to provide support in the provision of health care facilities to cater for the needs of the population.
He emphasised the need for quality health care, saying that “every life counts”.
Dr Sory who commended the owners of the hospital for providing such a facility, stressed the need for the staff to follow the standards and guidelines of the Ministry of Health in their operations.
“We want people to invest in the health sector. We should not wait for government to put up facilities,” he said.
He urged private health care providers to move into the areas of specialised health service to ease the pressure on government’s facilities.
The Executive Director and Co-Founder of the hospital, Mr Francis Owusu, said the facilities were put up in the area based on the frequency of accidents on the Accra-Cape Coast road.
He said there were future plans for expansion, and urged the government to grant tax exemption on the importation of health equipment.
Another co-founder of the hospital, Mrs Mary Owusu, said the aim of the owners was to provide first class independent health care for people in and outside the community.
The Clinical Director of the hospital, Mr Ellis Fleischer-Djoleto, said the services at the facility were quite affordable and urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the facility.
A former Director General of the GHS, Prof. Agyeman Badu-Akosa, who chaired the function, said the facility would help relieve the burden of overstretched hospitals and clinics in Accra.
He congratulated the management of the hospital, and indicated that it was strategically located.