Hospitals are supposed to be places of healthcare. Unfortunately, many of these health centres tend to be places of dangerous infections as a result of poor sanitation.

However, the story is different from the Ho Teaching Hospital in the Volta region.  A serene environment greets you right from the entrance of the 200-bed facility.

It was commissioned by Former President, Jerry John Rawlings in December 2000 as the Volta Regional Hospital.

The facility nicknamed ‘Trafalgar’ was re-commissioned as the Ho Teaching Hospital in 2018 to serve as a practical centre for medical students.

The hospital’s inception rejuvenated healthcare delivery in the area, serving as a referral facility to hundreds of health centres.

About 400 patients visit this facility which generates about 9,000 tons of solid waste daily.

Due to high waste generation, management has adopted what it calls the preventative maintenance module to ensure a hygienic environment for safe health delivery.

A sanitation team of 69 personnel are obliged to maintain a hygienic environment at the hospital, where proper waste disposal is practised.

Labelled bins are situated at vantage points to collect infectious waste separately from general waste.

Infectious waste is incinerated, while general waste is disposed-off with the assistance of a private company.

The Estate Manager, Solomon Dzamesi explained aside from the vantage position of the bins, some personnel are solely responsible for “picking debris around to curb littering.”

The yellow bin collects infectious waste while the black which is sometimes blue collects general waste.

Here at the Ho Teaching Hospital, the practice of hand hygiene is paramount.

There are sinks at every ward to ensure workers regularly wash their hands, to curtail the spread of germs.

The Ho Teaching Hospital’s waste management culture earned the Cleanest Hospital Award in 2017. This feat was achieved through the support of the nursing staff.

However, the nurse in charge of the Emergency Ward, Seyram Fiaka, laments staff ditching their ultimate duties to engage in cleanup impedes their healthcare delivery.

“The main issue here is the Human Resources, we [nurses] practically add up to clean up... this is an emergency ward, the priority is to save lives, if the nurses and doctors are focusing on the clients then the orderlies are also doing the cleaning up”, she said.

Some clients who spoke to JoyNews lauded management in ensuring the serene environment at the facility indicating it depicts a “hospital environment”

The Deputy Director of Administration and Head of Pediatrics Department, Dr Lord Mensah, however, wants the public to support the facility to maintain and even improve on the current situation.

myjoyonline