F. Alpha and Omega Hospital opens, registers 10,000 patients with NHIS

Some dignitaries after the inauguration of the Hospital

Residents of Madina, Haatso, Adenta, and surrounding areas can now access healthcare and delivery services at the recently opened F. Alpha and Omega Specialist Hospital.

The hospital and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) have started enrolling about 10,000 locals onto the programme so they can receive free medical care at the hospital.

The CEO, Mr Francis Fosu, stated during a brief ceremony last Friday to commemorate the hospital’s opening, saying he was motivated to assist the underprivileged in society in obtaining medical care after losing his own sister years ago as a result of his family’s inability to pay for her surgery.

The hospital is situated on a three-acre tract of land at Madina Powerland, close to Ritz Junction. The Four-storey hospital provides specialty surgical treatments, pediatric, obstetric, gynaecological, and prenatal services in addition to in-patient and general out-patient department (OPD) services.

He disclosed that with the addition of this hospital, his organisation now has six locations across the nation; the other three are in Kumasi and the other two are in Oti Region.

“It is evident that the impoverished members of society face difficulties in obtaining higher quality healthcare treatments. They have no money to cover the costs. Our goal is to offer everyone access to high-quality healthcare,” he said.

Mr Fosu added, “We have chosen to come to Accra as well, specifically to a place where there is a Zongo community and other communities where we have more of these people so that they can also enjoy high-quality healthcare services at a reduced cost or for free.”

“I am satisfied with my work when I am able to assist someone who is in need of medical attention but does not have the means to pay for it. For this reason, NHIS costs GH¢30 per individual, yet I’m registering them for free to enable them access free medical care. In order to ensure that no one visits our community uninsured, my budget calls for the registration of 10,000 NHIS clients. We aim to simplify their access to the facility,” he promised.

Mr Owusu Ansah, the NHIA’s Deputy Director for Claims, stated that his team was diligently seeking a new tariff to bring relief to both patients and service providers.

He said NHIA was working on three projects: regenerative health, the establishment of wellness centres in medical facilities, and the tariff revision that was presently being discussed. The NHIA was led by Dr DaCosta Aboagye, the organisation’s new CEO.

The newly appointed CEO is interested in and focused on regenerative health. The development of wellness centres within buildings followed. He wants to focus on preventive health. If preventive health is properly approached, we can identify diseases early and find treatments for them as soon as possible to prevent them from becoming chronic, which would require additional funding from the NHIA, and this will lessen the burden on the NHIA,” he said.

The new tariff, which is being worked on, is to support the facilities by bringing new rates to the market. If it doesn’t, hospitals will still be collecting money from patients when they visit them.

Mr Fosu called for a consensus between the government, pharmaceutical companies, and health service providers for a roadmap for the review of the NHIA tariffs, which he said was a great challenge for service providers.

BY TIMES REPORTER