Osei Owusu Bempah, an administrator at HopeXchange Medical Center, strongly advocates for a shift in the government’s healthcare strategy.
He emphasizes the need to prioritize healthcare infrastructure improvement over the current approach of establishing numerous facilities, as seen in Agenda 111.
Mr. Bempah contends that the current approach does not align with Agenda 111’s primary objective of enhancing healthcare accessibility.
To truly improve geographical accessibility to healthcare, he suggests that the government focus on enhancing the infrastructure of existing health centres rather than building entirely new facilities scattered across the country.
“Rather than constructing new facilities scattered around,” he says, “the government should focus on improving geographical accessibility to existing health facilities and enhancing their services. This would be more cost-effective and practical.”
Mr. Bempah is concerned that patients in regions like the Central and Northern areas must travel to Kumasi or Accra to access basic healthcare services while the government continues to invest in new facilities without adequately resourcing existing ones.
Osei Owusu Bempah shared his perspective during an interview with Citi News at the 18th National Conference of the Catholic Health Service Trusts Ghana, held in Modern City, Tamale.
While Bempah does not view Agenda 111 as a waste of time and resources, he highlights the numerous challenges faced by existing healthcare facilities and suggests that resources could be better utilized to address these issues.