Authorities of the St Anne’s Hospital in Damongo have closed down the OPD and administration blocks of the facility following power disconnection by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
NEDCo disconnected power supply to the facility for the second time in a month due to its failure to settle an outstanding electricity bill of over four million Ghana cedis.
Earlier, on May 4, the electricity company cut off the power supply to the hospital, but it was later reconnected after the intervention of the Savannah Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril.
However, NEDCo issued a warning stating that they would disconnect the hospital again on May 9 if the outstanding debt remained unpaid.
According to the authorities of the hospital, efforts to prevent the disconnection had been in vain.
The hospital’s accountant, Mr. Rashid Damba said “We have done everything humanly possible to prevent NEDCo from disconnecting the power supply to the hospital, but our efforts have not yielded the desired outcome.
“Due to the lack of electricity, the medical director of the hospital has decided to refer patients to a nearby hospital since the facility cannot operate without power. As a result, both the OPD and administration have been closed,” he added.
Meanwhile, angry patients stranded at the hospital expressed their disappointment with the situation and threatened to take to the streets in protest until electricity is restored to the hospital. But do sick persons have the strength to go on demonstration?
Mr. Damba explained that although the hospital has its own power plant, the cost of fueling it would be prohibitively expensive for the facility to bear.
The hospital authorities contend that it is the responsibility of the Government through the Ministry of Finance to pay electricity for the hospital as it is not allowed to bill patients for electricity.