The Medical Director of the Upper East Regional Hospital, Dr Joseph Kojo Tambil, has urged the government to convert the facility into a teaching hospital. He argues that its current status limits access to critical resources needed to improve specialist healthcare delivery in the region. The hospital currently functions effectively as a secondary referral facility. Upgrading it would strengthen its capacity to provide advanced medical services and attract greater investment.
Dr Tambil made the appeal during a stakeholder engagement in Bolgatanga as part of a nationwide sensitisation tour by the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku. He stated that the hospital's current status as a secondary hospital restricts its access to essential resources. The Medical Director explained that healthcare resources in Ghana are often allocated favouring teaching hospitals, leaving regional hospitals with limited access to equipment and support.
The absence of a teaching hospital in the Upper East Region places the area at a disadvantage when resources are distributed, according to Dr Tambil. He lamented that the region loses out on resources due to its current status. The Medical Director emphasised that the immediate priority should be establishing a teaching hospital rather than debating its location. He stressed that the focus should be on when to have the teaching hospital, not where to site it.
Dr Tambil proposed that the Upper East Region should have both a teaching hospital and a university hospital. These facilities could serve complementary purposes in healthcare delivery, medical education, and research. A university hospital would support the work of the Navrongo Health Research Centre and the University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Navrongo.
The Medical Director cited teaching hospitals in Tamale, Kumasi, Cape Coast, and Sunyani as examples of facilities supporting advanced healthcare delivery in other parts of Ghana. He questioned why the Upper East Region should continue without a similar facility despite its healthcare needs. Dr Tambil maintained that converting the Upper East Regional Hospital into a teaching hospital would improve healthcare delivery and address the region's longstanding challenges.
The proposed teaching hospital would strengthen specialist healthcare services in the region, according to Dr Tambil. He believes that this would be an important step towards addressing the region's healthcare challenges. The Medical Director's appeal is part of a broader effort to improve healthcare delivery in the Upper East Region.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund's nationwide sensitisation tour aims to promote improved access to specialist healthcare for patients in the region. The tour, led by Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, seeks to engage stakeholders and promote initiatives that address healthcare challenges in the region.
Key points
- The Medical Director of the Upper East Regional Hospital urges the government to convert the facility into a teaching hospital.
- The current status of the hospital limits its access to critical resources needed to improve specialist healthcare delivery.
- The proposed teaching hospital would strengthen specialist healthcare services and improve healthcare delivery in the region.
