A private businessman, who is also a road contractor, Richard Owiredu Wadie, has paid a total of GHC12000 to clear the bills of some 20 mothers who were detained at Koforidua Government Hospital for their inability to pay their debts.
Mr Wadie, through his NGO, KABAKA Foundation, also donated a truck load of items, including medical equipment such as fetal Doppler ultrasounds and dental materials as well as large quantities of soaps, detergents, milo, baby diapers, soft drinks, bottled water, among others, to the hospital to take care of patients, particularly pregnant and nursing mothers.
Mr Wadie, who is an awardee of “2020 Forty Under 40 Award Scheme”, has been donating to hospitals and paying medical bills for the poor and needy every year as part of his birthday.
The intervention has been helpful as many patients, particularly mothers who deliver through caesarean or suffer complications during child birth, often struggle to pay the huge bills issued to them.
Troubling
The acting matron at Obstetrics and Gyaenacology Department at the hospital, Kathlyn Nyassingbe, described as troubling the number of women discharged after delivery but unable to leave due to inability to settle their medical bills.
“It troubles our hearts when a mother is discharged after delivery but because she is unable to pay her bills still stays in the hospital. So, what he has done means over 20 women will be going home today because their bills have been paid.
“Those with high medical bills are those who underwent Caesarean delivery. The drugs used are expensive. So, we are appealing to others to follow suit to intermittently come to the aide of poor mothers who struggle to settle their bills,” she said.
Inability of patients to pay medical bills remains a challenge at the Eastern regional hospital. The hospital lost about Ghc350, 000 in 2018 to about 75 poor and needy patients who could not pay their medical bills and absconded, while some 212 signed undertaking to pay their bills in instalments.
Commendation
The acting matron of the hospital therefore commended KABAKA Foundation for coming to the aid of the nursing mothers, some of whom had delivered twins.
The beneficiary mothers were thankful to KABAKA Foundation, and appealed to the government to reintroduce the free maternal healthcare policy.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Arko Akoto Ampaw, was grateful. “We are very grateful for the items we have received. Initially, we thought the items were just going to support the mothers in the maternity unit; however, we noticed that it included items that are directly beneficial to the hospital, including fetal doppler and dental materials for the dental unit”.
The donation was climaxed with sharing of hot meals and soft drinks by the philanthropist and wife to pregnant and nursing women at the Obstetrics and Gyaenacology Department of the hospital.
