Azorebisi community renovates quarters for health workers

Residents of the Azorebisi community, a suburb of Sumbrungu in the Bolgatanga Municipality have renovated a nurses' quarters for health workers in the Community-based Health Planning Service (CHPS) compound in the area.The support, led by the Azorebisi Development Group, was part of efforts of the residents to put the once dilapidated accommodation facility in good shape for the health workers to stay and offer quality healthcare to the people.The renovation cost the community about GH?22,500.00 and would significantly boost healthcare delivery in the area, especially for pregnant women and children.Before the rehabilitation works, the quarters had become a death-trap with visible deep cracks on its walls and floors, leaking ceilings and roofing with the rooms flooded whenever it rained while the electrical works were also destroyed.The facility became uninhabitable, and the health workers had to abandon the facility and always commute from their various homes, some of whom came from Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital.This affected the efficient and effective delivery of quality healthcare to the people, particularly during emergency cases at night.Mr Charles Ayambire, the Chairman of the Azorebisi Development Group, said the move which started with a fundraising durbar held at the community was to support to improve development in the area and in particular help provide a decent place for the health workers to stay and work effectively.He said during the time the accommodation was in bad shape and was deserted, many residents especially pregnant women who needed to access health services especially at night had to travel several miles to Sumbrungu Health Centre, the regional hospital in Bolgatanga.These facilities, he stressed, were not only far from the community, but inaccessible due to poor state of the roads especially during the rainy season and expressed the hope that the renovated accommodation would help address the gap that existed and provide the healthcare to the people.'Ou r expectation is that this will not only help the nurses to stay, but the health directorate will give us critical health staff like a physician assistant, a midwife and general nurse as well as essential drugs', he said.Mr Elias Ayinbila Apasiya, Assemblyman for the Azorebisi Electoral Area, said the residents in recent times had embarked on self-help projects in education and health and commended the generosity of the residents towards community development.'Development is a collective approach, it does not necessarily have to take only government to bring about development, so today we are pleased that we are done with the renovation works and we have handed over the quarters to the workers', he added.He appealed to the health workers who would be staying there to ensure maintenance culture and ensure that the facility lasted and served its purpose.Madam Christiana Ateere, In-Charge of the CHPS compound, expressed gratitude to the community for the response in renovating the health accommodation, a dding that it would help to improve health outcomes in the area.'Now that we have accommodation to stay, it will help to attend to our clients at all times even at night', she added.Source: Ghana News Agency