In the Northern Region, the Lonto Community Health Centre is grappling with severe shortages of basic infrastructure, leaving health workers and residents to cope with challenges that compromise healthcare delivery.
Visitors to the facility noted a faded signpost, unused metal beds left outside, cobwebs in some areas and beds without sheets. Inside, consulting rooms were cluttered with books and other items, reflecting limited storage space.
Registered Community Health Nurse Magdalene Demyomah, who has served at Lonto for over a year, said the most pressing issue is the absence of washrooms. “We do not have washrooms. So, when people come here, they have to go into the bushes around the clinic to defecate. Even we, the workers here, do not have washrooms, so we also have to go into the bush to defecate and relieve ourselves,” she explained. She warned that this could expose residents and staff to diarrhoea, cholera and other diseases.
Other concerns raised by Demyomah include the lack of an ambulance, delayed medicine supplies, no separate wards for male, female and paediatric patients, and a single, broken delivery bed. “We have a labour and delivery room, but unfortunately, we have just one bed for pregnant women. When pregnant women come in, it is very difficult to attend to them. The delivery bed is even broken,” she said.
Staffing is also a critical issue; the centre has only five nurses. Demyomah pleaded with the government to intervene: “We are the ones who work here, and the situation is not really helping us. So, we plead with the government, or any of the powers that are listening, to come to our aid and help us.”
Residents interviewed by Myjoyonline echoed the challenges. One complained about the lack of bed sheets, forcing patients to lie on bare beds, while another highlighted long waiting times and nurses leaving the facility, leaving patients unattended. Despite these hardships, residents acknowledged that nurses are doing their best given the limited resources.
The Lonto Community Health Centre’s plight underscores the broader issue of inadequate healthcare infrastructure in rural Ghana, where health workers continue to serve communities amid significant shortages. The centre’s appeal for government assistance remains urgent as patients face increasing risks from the facility’s deficiencies.
