Eastern Regional Hospital detains over 240 patients for failing to settle Ghs281,092 medical bills
- Eastern Regional Hospital has detained 246 patients for not paying their medical bills
-The hospital launched a background check to ascertain who could pay and who couldn’t
- Those that couldn’t pay would be discharged
Information reaching Yen.com.gh indicates that the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua has detained some of its patients who had been treated and recovered from their ailments for failing to settle their medical bills.
The hospital reportedly detained some 246 patients because they were unable to pay their medical bills totaling Ghs281,092.
Source: Facebook
Osafo Tekyiwaa, head of the Social Work Unit at the facility told state-owned Daily Graphic that the hospital’s management had instituted background checks on the patients to categorise those who could pay from those who could not.
The latter, Tekyiwaa said would be discharged after the background investigation.
“We do background checks on patients who cannot pay their medical bills. We do investigations on their families to find out those who are poor and cannot pay and those who can afford,” she said.
The hospital’s management further appealed to philanthropists to come to the rescue of the detained patients.
In other news, Ghana’s COVID-19 death toll hit 685 after six more persons succumbed to the deadly virus that has killed some 2.6million people globally.
Also, 282 new cases were recorded, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) stated in its Sunday, March 14, 2021, update with active cases standing at 3,908.
A total of 87,769 cases have so far been recorded with 83,169 recoveries.
Over 300,000 Ghanaians have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine after the country took delivery of 600,000 doses on February 22, 2021, under the United Nation-led COVAX facility.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is licensed to the Serum Institute of India (AZ/SII).
Ghana is expected to receive an additional two million of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility by the end of May this year, boasting the government’s quest to vaccinate about 20 million Ghanaians.
Meanwhile, an outspoken Ghanaian Member of Parliament had described the deployment of free vaccines to the country as troubling.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, said he was prepared to fund Ghana’s purchase of the vaccine to reduce the country’s over-dependence on aid.
“I’m not bragging but I am prepared to give Akufo-Addo one million dollars to procure the vaccines,” he stated on his Net 2 television on Wednesday.
“I don’t like the idea of always going to the developed countries to beg for support as though we cannot do anything for ourselves,” he added.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
