The Accra Psychiatric Hospital has re-opened its Out Patient Department (OPD) to patients, following orders from the Mental Health Board.
The hospital suspended services at the OPD due to financial constraints as the situation forced suppliers of the facility to withdraw their services over the unpaid debts. Others suppliers even dragged the mental facility to court to demand payment.
The hospital’s situation had deteriorated to the point where the facility did not have basic items such as A-4 sheets, gloves and disinfectants readily available.
Sources within the hospital told Citi News that the government has offered to give hospital only GHc 15,000 of the over GHc 3.6 million owed them.
Hospital authorities had decried the inadequacy of the GHc 15,000 to run the facility, but speaking to Citi News, a member of the hospital’s communication team, Emmanuel Febiri, revealed that “management met yesterday to deliberate on what the mental health board came to support them with an amount of GHc 15,000 to be able to operate the OPD.”
“Upon coming out, they decided that from today, they are going open the OPD to the general public,” he added.
Mr. Febiri also noted that the hospital’s management and the mental health board “are still in talks with government to see if they can come out with some funds to actually help with the admission issues.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana