Patients, who report at the Kumasi South Hospital at Atonsu Agogo of Ashanti for treatment, are complaining about a special levy being imposed on them for fuel to power the hospital’s generator.
But Dr. Alexis M. Nan-Beifubah, Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Health Service says the imposition of the Levy is not completely out of place in view of the current electricity problem, and the effect on the health facilities across the country.
He said there was not nothing wrong with the hospital demanding a token from patients to keep the health delivery system on course.
Dr. Nang-Beifubah said health facilities were finding it difficult to provide efficient health care in view of the difficulty in getting reimbursement from government for almost 10 months.
The regional health director in a chat with The Ghanaian Times over the patient’s complaints said, “I believe it is the only necessary evil decision the hospitals would have to take for the facilities to take care of the patients.”
He admitted that it was a difficult decision but it was in the interest of the patients that the hospital had to arrive at such a ‘necessary evil decision,’ adding if that step not taken the hospital could record deaths that could not be avoided.
Managers of the Kumasi South Hospital are charging patients between GH3.00 and GH5.00 as electricity fees to continue to administer healthcare to avert the hospital from collapsing due to the inconsistent power supply.
Most of the patients are said to be card bearers of the national health insurance scheme and are finding it difficult to pay the token fee.
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