The management of the Likpe Polyclinic at Bakua in the Guan District in the Oti Region has appealed to the government to upgrade the facility to a district hospital as a fitting response to its expanded focus, services and augmented number of personnel.
Presently, it attends to about 500 patients on the average a month, and the medical officer now at post, the managers of the facility have said a reclassification to a district hospital would enable it to generate the needed revenue to support the services it renders to communities far and near.
Built in 1965 as a polyclinic with bungalows, two large standby generators, ambulance parking bays and a large tract of land for expansion, the facility was downgraded in 2018, but it has now enhanced its service delivery and believes upgrading it will enable it serve even better.
Grading
The Administrator of the facility, Bismark Quaye, told the Daily Graphic that the facility, originally a polyclinic, was downgraded under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as a CHPS zone with a midwife, since the last medical officer left in 2017, as well as the departure of other critical staff.
The front view of the Likpe Polyclinic
This means as a CHPS zone, the facility’s NHIS tariff covers only basic services far below those it can now offer and very basic drugs.
“The effect of this downgrade is that the rural folks who are expected to benefit most from the NHIS cannot because even the doctor’s consultation fees, laboratory services, among others are not covered under the NHIS,” he explained.
Mr Quaye stated that on January 16, this year, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), following its 2025 assessment, credentialled the facility as a Grade B polyclinic.
He explained that with a medical superintendent now at post, reclassification would make the facility the only district hospital in the Guan District, enabling management to run it more efficiently and recover some of its operational costs.
He stressed that although the facility was operating as a CHPS compound, the Medical Superintendent, Dr (Med) Kingsley Tettey and his staff did not allow its limitations to hinder their work.
Instead, they went above and beyond their capacity to provide services to communities far beyond Likpe in the Oti Region, including Wli, Hohoe and Golokuati in the Volta Region.
Mr Quaye added that since the Volta Regional Hospital (Trafalgar) was upgraded to a teaching hospital and the Hohoe Municipal Hospital to a regional hospital, the Likpe facility had experienced a surge in referrals and patient visits, placing significant pressure on its limited staff.
He said attempts had been made to upgrade the facility to serve as a municipal hospital for Hohoe to help absorb the increased patient load resulting from the upgrading of those hospitals.
This plan required the construction of an additional block to house a theatre for surgical and related services; however, the facility remains unequipped, leaving the polyclinic unable to provide minor surgical procedures.
“We have a complete theatre block, but it is not equipped, so we can’t use it for that purpose.
We now have a medical officer and basic surgeries can be done, but we lack the equipment.
“Despite the challenges, the Bakua Polyclinic has a laboratory with a haematology machine that can run basic tests, including full blood count (FBC).
It, however, lacks the equipment to run chemistry tests,” Mr Quaye said.
Visit
When the Daily Graphic visited the polyclinic, it observed that there were many blocks for various services, but they lacked the necessary equipment.
The team also saw one of the original twin generators that came with the facility still intact, although not functional.
There were about eight unit bungalows that had not seen mortar, nails or paint for many decades.
The Likpe Polyclinic also boasts vast reserve land for expansion, despite the Daily Graphic team being informed of attempts to encroach on the land, with one unauthorised building already being occupied.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh