Upgrade Agogo Presby Hospital to secondary healthcare facility - Medical Administrator

The Acting Medical administrator of Agogo Presbyterian Hospital in the Asante Akyem North Municipality of Ashanti Region, Dr. Frema Kotoh-Mortty, has appealed to the government to upgrade the Hospital to a Secondary Health Facility.

According to the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency, HeFra has given the hospital secondary status certificates since 2019. The National Health Insurance Authority and Christian Health Association of Ghana are frantically also working hard to accredit the hospital, of which the Management of the hospital is grateful.

The hospital renders the most critical services, but it is still considered as a primary health facility and based on that, the amount of income, per the primary level tariffs, affects its operations.

Apart from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Agogo Presbyterian Hospital is the second major referral health institution in the Ashanti Regional and the oldest Mission Hospital in Ghana, built on 21st March 1931. Even though the hospital has a lot of specialists and renders the most critical services, it is still considered as a primary health facility, with a lack of commensurate tariffs affecting the services.

It is a known fact that the hospital services especially the Ophthalmology, Paediatric and Surgical services transcend the borders of Ghana to the neighboring countries, especially the Ivory Coast and Togo. The Hospital needs modern and updated versions of equipment to prevent breakdowns to render uninterrupted services since the hospital is struggling with some aged equipment.

This came to light at the 2021 Annual Performance review meeting at Agogo. The Acting Medical Administrator and Head of Pediatric and Child Health Directorate at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Maame Fremah Kotoh-Mortty appealed to the government to replace some of their obsolete equipment, particularly the X-ray for effective healthcare delivery.

Dr. Maame Fremah Kotoh-Motty said even though the Hospital has a lot of Specialists and renders the most critical services, its tariffs are too low to sustain peak operations.