The Cape Coast Teaching Hospital will soon institute a Kidney Fund to assist patients whose medical conditions require dialysis but cannot afford the prescribed sessions due to the high cost involved in the management of the disease.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr. Daniel Asare, who made this known on Thursday, said there was the urgent need for the institution of the fund because many people on dialysis are unable to bear the cost which is GHC150.00 per session.
Dialysis is the process of removing toxic or waste materials or substances from the kidney through the use of dialysis machines which perform the functions of the human kidney.
A patient with a kidney disease and on dialysis needs at least two sessions per week, aside the cost of medications.
Dr. Asare gave the hint when the Central Regional Minister, EbenezerKojoTeye Addo and a team of officials from the Central Regional Coordinating Council visited the hospital to interact with management and staff and to acquaint themselves with the current state of the hospital.
The CEO expressed concern about the increasing number of kidney diseases in the country, and asked Ghanaians to sacrifice some small amount towards the establishment of the fund.
He also appealed to institutions, stakeholders, various organizations and the general public to donate towards the establishment of the fund, to help assist the hospital to achieve its goal to save human lives.
Dr. Asare said the hospital was working around the clock to become the final point of referral in the Western and Central Regions and beyond.
Some key departments of the hospital the Minister and his entourage visited, were the Medical Records, Pediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Accident and Emergency wards and the Burns, Dialysis and Intensive Care UnitCentre.
The Minister commended the hospital administration and staff for working assiduously to keep the hospital neat, as well as the level of development since its establishment 16years ago, and indicated that its new status as a teaching hospital came with the responsibility of ensuring that the hospital was patient friendly.
Mr. Addo promised to deal with the issue of encroachment of the hospital’s lands by residents of surrounding communities and to assist the hospital to construct mothers’ hostels, and solve its water supply problem, among other issues.
He urged the hospital staff to handle the hospital equipment with utmost care, since they were delicate and expensive, so they would last longer.
On remuneration of staff, the Minister assured them that conditions would get better
Source: GNA