St. Martin De Porres Hospital celebrates 75 years of providing quality healthcare

Celebrated under the theme, “75 years of holistic quality healthcare in Kroboland,” the milestone highlighted the institution’s vibrant history as an accomplished healthcare provider in the Eastern Region.

The Medical Superintendent in charge of the hospital, Dr. Stephen Kusi extolled the commitment and selflessness of the staff and management of the hospital through various acts of humanitarianism towards the preservation of life.

Though the 123-bed capacity facility operates as a district hospital, Dr. Kusi said the facility offers specialist services with admissions increasing from 5,573 in 2017 to 7,734 in 2021, an increase of 30% as well as an increment in OPD services from 68,162 in 2017 to 92,594 in 2021.

Anti-natal registrants, he added, also rose sharply by 14% from 1,239 in 2019 to 1,521 in 2021 as well as an increase in total deliveries from 1,702 in 2019 to 2,209 in 2021 representing a 21% increase.

The medical superintendent disclosed further that 62 out of its total staff of 390 have been infected with the COVID-19 virus resulting in one mortality.

The administrator of the hospital, Mr. Emmanuel Bosompim praised the facility’s recognition by the Ghana Aids Commission and Ghana Health Service for its role as a pioneer and most dedicated hospital in HIV and AIDS services in Ghana with the hospital being adjudged the best facility for the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Region for the year 2020.

Additionally, the St. Martin’s Hospital, according to the administrator is among the facilities within the entire CHANG network on level 3 following an assessment by SafeCare quality healthcare delivery in 2021 as it targets reaching level 5 by the end of the next assessment.

Despite these achievements, however, the hospital is confronted with some challenges bedeviling its smooth operations. These include the inadequacy of surgeons, senior physician specialists, medical officers, anesthetists, and the absence of a critical care nurse and obstetrician-gynecologist.

To address this problem, Mr. Bosompim said, “We, therefore, have to resort to the use of locum doctors and other specialists to be able to keep up with the provision of quality healthcare to our clients. This comes as a huge financial cost to the hospital”.

With only 20 out of the total staff of 390 residing in on-site accommodation, the lack of accommodation facilities continues to affect the housing needs of the staff of the hospital. The situation, the administrator added, has resulted in many critical staff refusing posting to the area.

“We have had occasions where these critical staff we are crying for have refused posting to our hospital because there’s no accommodation for them in the hospital even though management was prepared to secure accommodation for them outside the facility,” he bemoaned.

The situation, the administrator added poses a challenge to the provision of quality healthcare, especially during emergency situations.

To address the problem, the management of the facility has developed a five-year-development plan for a four-storey, 40-unit residential block valued at Ghc 9m to house the staff of the hospital.

The administrator also appealed to the government for swift reimbursement of its NHIS claims which have stalled since September 2021.

Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Winfred Ofosu while commending the staff and management of the hospital noted that providing quality healthcare for Krobos over the past 75 years was no mean achievement, underscoring its status as the most preferred health facility in the area.

He stressed that the theme for the event, “75 years of holistic quality healthcare in Kroboland,” underscores its role as a major player in healthcare delivery, not only in Kroboland but in the region as a whole.

He recalled the critical role played by the hospital in the management of COVID-19 cases and thanked the facility for the support.

The regional director urged management of the hospital to strive to achieve even more in the future. “As you celebrate your 75th anniversary, sit back and reflect on what has worked for you and improve upon them to achieve more and work to identify your challenges so you work with your key stakeholders to address them,” he told them.

Chairman for the occasion and president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, Nene Sakite II commended the hospital for being “a facility that gives a lot of hope to clients and further delight them with uncompromised quality health care.”

Nene Sakite noted that the traditional council was putting in a lot more effort to encourage members of the community to register with the NHIS to reduce the financial burden on them in accessing healthcare.

Municipal Chief Executive for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Kweku Tetteh while lauding the catholic church for augmenting the efforts of government in the provision of health facilities, noted that it was worth celebrating 75 years of impactful, quality, and transformation healthcare service which the St. Martin’s hospital has rendered to the people of Lower Manya Krobo and the country as a whole.

He said the hospital as a lead healthcare institution within the Christian faith continues to offer committed varying range of services for people.

According to him, government is committed towards completing all ongoing healthcare projects in the municipality to provide equitable access to healthcare for them.

The St. Martin De Porres Hospital was established in October 1946 as a clinic and maternity home by Bishop Joseph Oliver Bowers SVD (Emeritus) to provide healthcare and maternity services for inhabitants of the Manya Krobo District due to the difficulties the people were facing during that time in accessing healthcare.

It was later upgraded to the status of a hospital in 1997.

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