The Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital is barely surviving and desperately gasping for breath owing to decades of total neglect, which had left the facility in an awful state.
The 84-year-old colonial hospital, which is directly exposed to the destructive salty sea breeze due to its nearness to the Atlantic Ocean, has barely seen any major renovation since it was commissioned.
The facility is in complete desolation with physically feeble buildings with deep cracks, murky walls, broken ceilings, rusted furniture, inadequate and archaic logistics, and a generally repellent atmosphere not befitting a health centre.
As a matter of fact, a greater proportion of the hospital’s infrastructure had been completely abandoned and could easily pass as a junkyard.
The 115-bed capacity hospital had shrunk to 77.
The facility is at a prime location in Cape Coast, sitting directly opposite the sea and bordered behind by the Fosu Lagoon with a very airy environment and a beautiful sea view.
However, the Metropolitan hospital hardly receives up to 80 clients a day due to its poor state, exacerbated by stiff competition from adjoining facilities like the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ewim Polyclinic and the University of Cape Coast Hospital.
As part of efforts to rescue the facility from total collapse, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Oguaamanhen, led an entourage of traditional authorities on a tour of the facility last Friday to familiarise themselves with its true state.
The visit followed a business forum held jointly by the Oguaa Traditional Council and the Ridge Royal Hotel on Tuesday, October 17 to highlight the activities and challenges faced by businesses and corporate organisations in the ancient city with the view of strengthening them to propel the development of Cape Coast.
Among other devastating situations, the chiefs found out was that the hospital’s X-ray facility, which was razed down by fire many years ago, still stood in disrepair.
Management of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital lamented that the situation was having a devastating effect on their operations and revenue generation.
They have, therefore, appealed to government and all benevolent organisations to help revamp the facility to make it more vibrant to save lives.
Mr Daniel Adonteng, the Administrator of the Hospital, who took the chiefs to tour the facility, indicated that renovating the facility would restore its image and empower it to function properly as the metropolitan hospital.
He said that although the hospital has all the relevant stuff, the challenge of infrastructure and the general poor state of the place had resulted in a sharp decline in both Out-Patients and In-Patients attendance.
“We have only 77 beds, but we don’t fully operationalise them; they are mostly empty.”
“If the place is attractive, people will come. However, you may deliver all the best services, if you are not attractive, people will not come.
“It is our prayer that we can give the facility a major facelift to enhance our service delivery and attract more clients to help in revenue generation,” he said.
Mr Adonteng said the hospital was also facing the challenge of inadequate essential drugs due to low revenue and other challenges.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta, after assessing the situation, observed that the hospital was faced with both infrastructural and administrative problems.
He expressed concern about the state of the hospital and questioned why it had been allowed to rot without any maintenance.
He was hopeful that when the place was put into shape, it would become more vibrant and competitive and therefore, tasked the management to compile and present to him a detailed report on the state of the facility to help bring it back to life.
Mr Samuel Aduama, the Nkosohen of Oguaa Traditional Area, entreated managers of the hospital to device innovative strategies to attract more clients.
He urged them to create productive and lasting relationships with schools, businesses, and communities through medical outreaches and other gestures to invite more clients to boost revenue.
“You need a selling point and so you need to change the narrative of the hospital through excellent health care delivery.
“Fortunately, you are in a very good environment, very close to the sea. With a significant improvement, you will become very vibrant again,” he said.
GNA