Residents of Ga and its surrounding communities have received a major boost in healthcare delivery following the handing over of a newly constructed two-room nurses’ accommodation to the Ga Health Centre in the Wa West District.
The project was initiated as a measure to improve access to healthcare, especially during emergencies.
Speaking to Radio Mak on the sideline of a durbar held on Tuesday, April 15, 2026 to commission and handover the facility, Chairman of the Community Health Management Committee (CHMC), Mr. Abdulai Yahaya, revealed that the community-initiated bungalow project was borne out of the challenges posed by lack of adequate accommodation in the area.
He expressed gratitude to all who supported financially, especially the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wa West Constituency, Hon. Peter Lanchene Toobu, whose financial and logistical support is estimated to be in excess of 40,000 cedis.
Mr. Abdulai also praised the people of Ga, particularly the youth, for supporting the project through labour. “The youth may not have money, but they have been very supportive. They help us with labour anytime there is work to be done,” he stated.
According to him, the absence of accommodation facility for the nurses at the Health Centre was negatively affecting healthcare delivery in the sub-district, especially during emergencies at night.
“If someone falls sick in the night, it becomes very difficult to get a nurse [to attend to her] because they don’t stay nearby. We felt that if we have enough rooms for the nurses to stay here, it will help us get specialists at any time when the need arises,” he said.
He explained that the nurses’ bungalow provided by government when the facility was a CHPS Compound was not enough to accommodate the about ten health workers, forcing many of them to rent accommodation far from the facility while others who could not get accommodation commute to work daily instead of being resident in the community. It is for this reason, the community came together and built an additional two-room apartment to support the facility, he noted.
The newly commissioned bungalow, supported largely by the MP, is expected to improve healthcare delivery by ensuring that nurses are readily available to attend to patients, especially in emergency situations.
Mr. Abdulai stressed the need for additional accommodation, indicating that more living rooms for nurses at the facility will help improve service delivery in the area. He, thus, appealed to government and benevolent stakeholders to provide more accommodations for the health workers who outnumber the current facilities.
Other challenges
The CHMC chairman also raised concerns about the poor state of the dispensary at the health centre, identifying drug storage as the most pressing issue. The facility has no proper pharmacy, which is affecting the quality of medication given to patients in the sub-district, he said.
Additionally, he noted the absence of an office space for the psychiatrist nurse, which is also impacting negatively on mental care in the area.
He, therefore appealed to the government and other stakeholders to come to their aid by providing the health centre with a befitting drug storage unit and a psychiatrist space.
Mr. Abdulai Yahaya also lamented the lack of enough health personnel posted at the facility, considering the population of the area. As a health centre and referral point of a sub-district, he believes the number of health workers currently posted to the facility are woefully inadequate.
He urged the authorities to post more nurses to the community so as to improve health service delivery.
Corroborating the challenges raised by the CHMC chairman, the in-charge of the Ga Health Centre, Mr. Mbiso Ang-sonamah Isaiah mentioned lack of drug storage facility, medical equipment, and motorbikes as major challenges affecting the Ga Health Centre and the sub-district as a whole.
He said the absence of functional motorcycles is greatly hindering health visits to other communities within the catchment area.
For the Ga Health Centre in particular, Isaiah lamented the absence of washrooms and fans in the medical wards as other significant challenges affecting quality healthcare delivery.
The Ga Sub-district is made up of the Ga Health Centre and four CHPS Compounds located in Nyoli, Kuukyileyiri, Maanyeyiri, and Domangyili. The five facilities together serve many communities and large population with inadequate supplies.
MP pledges support
Addressing the concerns of the community and health workers, the MP, Peter Toobu pledged his continuous support for the health centre and the entire sub-district to ensure improved healthcare delivery.
Mr. Toobu immediately responded to some of the challenges by funding the acquisition of two glucometers, two gun thermometers, two weighing scales – one each for children and adults, two sets of blood pressure apparatus, and three ceiling fans for the facility.
He noted that the intervention forms part of his broader commitment to strengthening healthcare delivery, particularly in undeserved communities.
Hon Lanchene commended residents of the community for their commitment to improving healthcare delivery and supporting development initiatives in the area. He urged them to stay united and peaceful for better health outcomes.
The MP also challenged residents to be each other’s keeper and to care for one another in times of ill health.
He opined that regular visits and attention to the sick can significantly aid recovery, emphasising that it is misplaced priority to spend lavishly on funerals for individuals who were neglected while alive.
