The Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, Navro Pio, Pe Denis Aneakwoa Balinia Adda Asagpaare II, has called for the urgent upgrade of the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital to enable the facility to better meet the healthcare needs of the growing population.
He made the call when the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace as part of the Minister’s monitoring activities on the implementation of the Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) initiative in the Upper East Region.
According to the traditional ruler, the hospital requires significant improvements to its infrastructure and capacity to enable it to adequately serve residents within Navrongo and surrounding communities.
The call comes at a time when government is placing renewed emphasis on strengthening healthcare delivery and expanding access to quality services under the Free Primary Healthcare programme. The programme seeks to shift greater attention towards preventive care, early detection and treatment at the primary healthcare level.
The Navrongo War Memorial Hospital has for years served as an important healthcare facility for residents in the area and surrounding districts. It also serves as a referral facility for communities beyond the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.
The need for an upgrade has been raised previously, with calls for the hospital to be rehabilitated, expanded and equipped with modern facilities to improve its capacity as a referral centre.
More recently, plans have been announced for the facility to be upgraded into a teaching hospital, a move linked to efforts to establish medical training in the region and strengthen the local healthcare workforce.
During the engagement, Minister Akandoh briefed the Navro Pio on the objectives of the Free Primary Healthcare initiative and other government interventions aimed at improving access to healthcare in the region.
He outlined the importance of community participation in the programme as government works to bring essential healthcare services closer to residents.
The Navro Pio, for his part, urged residents within his traditional jurisdiction to take full advantage of the Free Primary Healthcare initiative and actively participate in programmes designed to improve their health and wellbeing.
He commended the Health Minister for efforts to strengthen Ghana’s health sector while stressing the need for the government to pay particular attention to the condition and capacity of the War Memorial Hospital.
The upgrade of the facility would also be significant to the broader healthcare ambitions for the region, particularly plans to strengthen medical training and develop a skilled healthcare workforce locally.
Government’s 2024 manifesto, for instance, included a commitment to upgrade the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital to facilitate the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
