• Stan Dogbe is asking if it is not wickedness for the La General Hospital to be demolished
• He said, the decision of the President has affected to who live within the catchment area
• He said, if President Mahama had won, Ghanaians would be enjoying free primary healthcare
Stan Xoese Dogbe, a former Presidential staffer under the John Dramani Mahama administration, has asked if it is not wickedness to humanity for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to demolish the La General Hospital and for many years after, there has not been a block laid.
According to him, the callous and inhuman decision of the President has affected several people within the catchment area that the health facility used to serve.
In a post on his Facebook timeline, Stan Dogbe wrote, “So, people, is it not sheer wickedness to humanity on the part of President Nana Akufo-Addo that he will demolish completely the La General Hospital (formerly La Polyclinic) and many years after not even a block has been laid there?
“Imagine the number of people and the catchment area that health facility used to serve and for that matter, the number of people affected by the lack of access to healthcare by that callous and inhuman decision.
“Again, imagine the number of people and families that have lost their daily bread. Those who used to sell sachet and bottled water, drinks, food, pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies outside of the once vibrant health facility.”
He noted that, development is not how comfortable the president and his appointees are, but how government with a compassionate leader takes decisions and implements a vision that makes life and living conditions easy and comfortable for the people.
“I remember how the embattled Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu lied during his vetting that work has started on the construction of a new infrastructure at the site where the La General Hospital once stood. That is just a reflection of how Nana Akufo-Addo and his appointees appear not to care about the people, and their welfare. Because how can you go on national television and lie through your teeth about something that many in the area and around can testify to be false,” Stan Dogbe’s post said.
He further indicated that President Mahama’s administration would not have subjected the people to because he would have given Ghanaians Free Primary Healthcare.
“Access to, not just healthcare, but quality healthcare is one that must be assured and guaranteed all citizens. Beyond belabouring the point, this is what a John Dramani Mahama administration will not subject the people to. Indeed, his record when it comes to implementing the vision of improving access to quality healthcare, expanding the number of available hospital beds etc, abounds with evidence.
“Had he been sworn in as winner of the last election, Ghanaians would have been in the process of benefiting and enjoying his Free Primary Healthcare Policy. That is a vision and policy the next NDC administration will surely implement to the benefit of the people,” he stressed.
Background
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, cutting the sod for the commencement of construction of the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project on Tuesday, 10th August 2020, said, the redevelopment project has been occasioned by a report from the Ghana Health Service, which indicated that the five-storey structure of the Hospital had developed gaping cracks, which made the facility unfit for use.
He indicated, the unplanned nature of the entire hospital campus required that it be re-organised so that it can function efficiently as a 21st century hospital, which will serve the needs of residents of La and its adjoining communities.
With Government’s policy of achieving Universal Health Coverage for all, which demands that access to decent healthcare is guaranteed for every Ghanaian, no matter where they live, the President explained that this is the reason why Government had to source quickly the requisite funding to embark on the redevelopment of the Hospital, in view of its strategic location in our nation’s healthcare delivery system.
“This facility, in so many ways, complements the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge, and its upgrading will serve most people from Osu through La and Teshie, as well as residents living along the coastal corridor of Accra,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “Indeed, with admissions to this Hospital, arising from maternal health and other related complications, increasing from 20.5% in 2008, to 30% in 2017, and with pregnancy and related conditions, for the first time in the history of the life of this Hospital, being the number one cause of admission, require that we improve rapidly the facilities of this hospital”.