The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has commissioned an ultra-modern surgical theatre in honour of former President, the late John Evans Atta Mills at the St. Anne’s Polyclinic located in Dorfor-Tagadzi.
The construction of the €90,000 euros facility was funded by Manos Unidas, a non-profit organisation from Spain, through the office of the Bishop for the Keta-Akatsi Catholic Diocese, Bishop Gabriel Edoe Kumordjie, S.V.D. but was fully furnished and equipped by the MP, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa and his families at another cost of €240,000.
The facility which was officially commissioned by a former Minister of State and the 2020 running mate for the National Democratic Congress, Prof. Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang is expected to offer critical healthcare services to residents from Juapong, Dorfor, Fodzoku, Volo, Tagadzi, Torgome, Battor Togorme and the Mepe Torgodo enclaves of the North Tongu District.
Hitherto, residents needing emergency surgeries including pregnant women have had to be referred to other health facilities hundred miles away since the St. Anne’s Polyclinic did not have a surgical theatre.
Dr. Momodou Cham, a public health physician with the Keta-Akatsi Catholic Diocese in an address said, “About 10-years ago, led by then Keta-Akatsi Catholic Diocese Bishop Anthony K. Adanuti identified the Dorfor enclave as an area with poor access to health services.”
“The Diocese worked with the Chiefs and people of Attitekpui and Tagadzi to source funds from a German NGO to build the St. Anne’s Polyclinic which was commissioned in 2015,” Dr. Momodou Cham added.
Despite this intervention, the lack of a surgical theatre at the St. Anne’s Polyclinic, according Dr. Momodou Cham created a further gap in service delivery in the area.
It is in response to this that the Diocese and the office of the MP, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa submitted a joint proposal to Manos Unidas to secure funding towards the construction of the theatre.
Dr. Momodou Cham further stated that ,”without the MP’s intervention funds for the building would not have been obtained because Manos Unidas asked for a commitment to equip the theatre before agreeing to fund the construction.”
The facility has been dedicated to the memory of former President, the late John Evans Atta Mills.
Mr. Ablakwa in his remarks said, “We did it for the people we serve and we did it for the indomitable Asomdwehene. The Prof. John Evans Atta Mills Surgical Block duly commissioned and now open to save lives.”
Mr. Ablakwa clarified that the decision to name the facility after Prof. Mills a man who impacted him on a personal level and the country at large while alive was unanimously accepted by every stakeholder including the hierarchy at the Catholic Diocese.
The facility has two operating rooms, two recovery rooms, offices and an Out-Patient Department (OPD).
