The Administrator of the Axim Government Hospital, Mahama Abdul Wahab, has refuted reports of congestion at the facility following a decision to use its female ward and maternity block for a Hollywood movie shoot.
In response to a press conference by the Axim Youth Alliance which petitioned the Municipal Assembly and the Axim Government Hospital to reopen the female and maternity wards, the Hospital’s Administrator said the movie production, engineered by former Tourism Minister, Catherine Afeku, has not affected the hospital’s operations.
The Axim Government Hospital is the main hospital that serves inhabitants of the Nzema East Municipality in the Western Region.
In early 2021, the hospital officials were called to a meeting with the former MCE of Nzema East, Frank Okpenyen and the former MP and Tourism Minister, Catherine Afeku.
At that meeting in the presence of the Nzema East Municipal Security Council, an agreement was reached with Panzi Production, a Ghanaian movie producer which is a partner to a Belgian film company based in Hollywood, to use one of the hospital’s wards for a film production from August to December 2021.
In return, the hospital was to benefit from repainting and medical equipment. The preparations for the movie were halted in November as some of the production members tested positive for COVID-19.
A group calling itself the Axim Youth Alliance in a petition to the Municipal Assembly and the Axim Government Hospital says the hospital has been facing congestion for some time after it gave out the female ward and the maternity block to be used for the movie production.
In her response, the MCE for Nzema East, Dorcas Elizabeth Amoah, promised to address the concerns of the youth.
Meanwhile, the Administrator of the Axim Government Hospital, Mahama Abdul Wahab, in reacting to the concerns denied claims that the hospital is facing congestion to the extent that some patients are delivering on plastic chairs.
“The core of the matter is that we did not shut down the maternity and female wards because service was delivered to patients who needed to be admitted at the female ward. Pregnant mothers were also admitted and cared for. The youth made it appear as though the wards were shut down and therefore clients were sent away when they came for care. Both female and maternity wards were relocated to two other separate buildings where we served them with the services they required“.