Investigate St Joseph’s Hospital for alleged extortion — Segbefia
The Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, has called for investigations into an alleged case of extortion levelled against some staff of the St Joseph’s Orthopaedic Hospital in Koforidua.
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“I require a full investigation to be carried out regarding issues raised with the view to implementing sanctions under the requisite administrative procedures if the story turns out to be accurate,” he said in a letter to the Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG).
The Minister was reacting to an article in the Daily Graphic of August 12, 2016, where the hospital was said to have been selected to host ‘Operation Walk Syracuse’, an American charity, to conduct knee and hip replacement surgery for about 50 shortlisted Ghanaians.
Facts of the case
According to the report, the surgery was free and patients were not required to pay even a pesewa.
However, the report said the local medical staff asked each of the beneficiary patients who had been screened for the free surgery to pay GH¢6,100.
Many of the patients, the report said, were unable to raise the full amount. Those who were able to come by the GH¢6,000, duly paid to the local medical team (Ghanaian doctors).
All that, it said, was on the blindside of the US team.
When the US team discovered the scandal, the team vowed never to come back to Ghana.
Urgent investigations
Mr Segbefia, in the letter, which was also copied to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira, and the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health (MoH), Dr Afisah Zakaria, said “If matters of a criminal nature are disclosed by the investigations carried out, we would expect that the matter be reported to the police service for criminal proceedings to be considered.”
He said the investigations should be treated with extreme urgency.