A total of 30 nurses, doctors and other paramedical staff had left the Agona Swedru Municipal Government Hospital to seek greener pastures, leaving a huge vacuum in the provision of health care services in the Municipality and its environs. The personnel left between 2022 and June 2023. Dr Julius Abuku, Medical Superintendent of Agona Swedru Municipal Hospital, made this known when the Swedruman Council of Chiefs paid a courtesy call on the management of the Hospital at Swedru. The visit was to enable the chiefs to know the current state of the health facility, its achievements and challenges. Dr Abuku disclosed that the mass exodus of the medical staff had seriously affected work at the various wards of the facility and that the situation had compelled workers to carry out compulsory overtime. He said management had sent petitions to the Regional Health Directorate in Cape Coast and Ghana Health Service (GHS) head office in Accra for replacements. The Medical Superintendent said measures were in place to retain staff to include the institution of award schemes and other motivation for the workers. He said despite the mass exodus, they had been able to work to reduce maternal and child mortality and high birth rates through quality family planning education. Dr Abuku said the management through prudent applications of internal resources had also embarked on many projects to improve the structures of the facility. The washrooms attached to the Out-Patient Department (OPD) had been reconstructed to replace the existing ones, which had been overused due to the influx of patients to the facility. Management had through its Internally Generated Funds (IGF) and other sources renovated Doctors' bungalows and flats for other staff as part of the efforts to motivate them. He said the theatre and OPD would also see major rehabilitation works, adding that the incinerator had been faulty for a long time and needed to be replaced. The Hospital was constructed in 1958 and some of the machines like the X-ray machine had become outmoded. Dr Abuku appealed to well-meaning indigenes to help purchase new X' Ray machines and others to facilitate smooth operations at the hospital. The government should, as a matter of urgency, replace medical staff who have left to ensure quality health care delivery. He said the Hospital served as a referral point for other districts, including Agona East, Gomoa Central, and Awutu Bawjiase in Awutu Senya West. Dr Abuku commended the Agona West Municipal Assembly for the provision of four bungalows for doctors. Nana Kweku Esieni V, Nifahene of Agona Swedru, who led the chiefs, appealed to the government to post some medical staff to replace those who have travelled outside the country to seek greener pastures. The chief urged the people to appreciate the work of nurses, doctors and other paramedical staff as they worked under strenuous conditions to give care. Nana Esieni urged the government to endeavour to post nurses and doctors to enhance health care delivery in the Area. Source: Ghana News Agency