Dr Arko Akoto-Ampaw, Medical Director of the Eastern Regional Hospital, has stressed the need for a kidney dialysis centre to be established at the Regional hospital to scale up healthcare services.

According to the Medical Director, the dialysis centre would provide access to such critical healthcare service to many people in the Eastern Region and parts of the Volta region, who had no option but to travel to Accra and elsewhere for such services.

He said even though the construction of the 600-bed New Regional hospital in Koforidua, had factored it in the plan, "for the time being the need for such a centre has become relevant with the covid-19 pandemic which aggravates the situation of people with renal conditions".

Dr Akoto-Ampaw made this known at a meeting with the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Sugandh Rajaram, who visited the hospital as part of his five-day working tour of the Eastern Region to look for business potentials worthy of investment by the Indian community at the Regional level.

The Medical Director indicated that management of the hospital had taken steps to partner some private entities for the establishment of the dialysis centre and expressed hope that India with its credible pace in the medical industry would support the hospital in that direction.

On Covid-19 arrangement, he indicated that the physiotherapy unit had been converted into a holding centre whiles the mental unit of the hospital turned into a 13-bed treatment centre and appealed to the public to keep to the prevention protocols because covid was real.

The 429-bed capacity Eastern Regional hospital has been in existence for about 100 years now and is the referral hospital in the Region which serves parts of the Volta and Ashanti Regions, with daily OPD attendance of about 700.

The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana on his part indicated that India had the technological capacity in terms of medicine and medical equipment and assured the hospital of its partnership in improving upon their quality of service delivery.

He said the idea to have a dialysis centre at the Regional hospital was a good initiative and reiterated that India was prepared to support Ghana to strengthen its healthcare systems and delivery for the benefit of the people of Ghana in line with the bilateral relationship of the two countries.