SDA Hospital lacks a Mortuary

Mr Enoch Opoku Nketia, the Administrator of the Hospital told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Monday in Sunyani, that the Hospital had a qualified Pathologist and Management was therefore making effort to build a structure to be able to operate mortuary services.

Consequently, “anytime there is an expired case the Hospital has to keep the body outside the ward for the necessary arrangement to either reach other facilities or the relatives for conveyance from the Hospital”, Mr Nketia said.

According to him, relatives who could not afford the cost of ambulance service conveyed their dead bodies by the use of taxis and other private cars.

Hence, he said the Hospital’s Board and Management were doing everything possible to construct a modern, suitable structure for preservation, saying “drawings and bills of quantities have been secured for the construction”.

Mr Nketia admitted “the Hospital has only two stretchers being used in its two main theatres” but said, “it is not enough”.

Mr Nketia expressed worry that many relatives failed to collect their dead bodies on time, a situation which he added remained a huge challenge confronting the Hospital Management.

In an earlier interview with the GNA, a bereaved man who was conveying the body of a deceased relative into a taxi cab, described the situation as unpleasant and unacceptable.

This unfortunate situation remained a serious public health hazard in the Municipality amid the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread and attendant deaths.

Information from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed the Bono Region was among the hotspots regions in the country noted for the rapid spread of the new variant of the virus.