By Prince J Musa in Kenema
People in Kpayama Community in Kenema have been provided with a newly built Health Centre through support from the government and the Kenema City Council.
Kpayama residents through their councillor had approached the council and the District Health Management Team (DHMT) for a health centre after the structure that was used before it was retaken by the landlord. It is against this backdrop that the District Health Management team in collaboration with the Kenema city council agreed to construct a new community health facility.
Addressing the community people and the health workers at the commissioning of the structure, the District Medical Officer Kenema Dr Donald Samuel Grant said the people were without a health centre for over a decade.
He said there are in all, eighteen health facilities in the city, with twelve of them being dwelling houses of community people and the remaining six built by the DHMT and the council.
Dr Grant also requested additional land space so they could build accommodation for the nurses who will be posted to the health facility, to facilitate easier responses to emergency cases during the night hours.
“DHMT and council have vowed to construct one health facility every year to reduce the burden in having health facilities in private houses,” he said.
He added that the construction of the centre before one year was one of the fastest projects implemented by DHMT and commended the Mayor of Kenema and the entire council administration for the support accorded to DHMT since the start of the project to its completion. Dr Grant stated that the health centre was not funded by any organisation but through monies given to DHMT and the council for health service delivery for the people.
The district medical officer said the new structure has two components, with one unit accommodating up to four women during labour and the other comprising ten rooms, for general medical services.
Dr Grant commended members of the DHMT for the support accorded him and called on all health workers to keep working for their people.
The Chief of Kpayama, Mustapha Sward thanked the DHMT and the council for the facility. He affirmed their commitment to monitoring the use of the health centre.
Deputy Mayor Esther Ngunya Kaisamba expressed delight in the construction of the modern health center which he said is the core mandate of the council.
The deputy mayor assured the people of Kenema of the council’s willingness to work with partners and communities in the area of development.
She encouraged the women to take good care of the facility and advised the community to embrace the health workers who will be deployed at the health centre. She also warned against home delivery, which she said is responsible for most maternal deaths in the country.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (09/02/22)
