Welcoming the gathering, Basirou Drammeh, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kanifing General Hospital, revealed that the day marks an important day in the annals of the hospital in that they are inaugurating the fourth board of the hospital since establishment in 2010.
The decision to establish the hospital, he said, was due to the increasing demand of health related matters that the municipality faced.
“So the Ministry through the Government of The Gambia thought it to open a hospital to respond to the increasing demands of this metropolitan municipality. The hospital have more than 540 staff, out of which majority are clinicians (nurses and midwifes) and other staff cadre.” he informed the gathering.
Drammeh informed the gathering on the wide range of services offered at the hospital, which he said, includes accident and emergencies, out-patients and maternal and new born care services, surgical and medical services, child health services, dental and oral health services, laboratory and pharmaceuticals services, among others.
He commended the outgoing board for their hard work and dedication in pushing the agenda of the hospital to register much success.
He also spoke highly of both their local and international partners for their efforts, which he said, has greatly helped the hospital to reach where it is today.
CEO Drammeh also informed the new board about some current works and those in the pipeline.
Also speaking, Ousman Dampha, the chair of the new board, on behalf of his colleagues commended the Ministry for the confidence bestowed in them to serve as board members of the hospital.
He assured that they would do everything possible to promote the agenda and improve health services at the hospital.
In her inaugural statement on behalf of the Minister of Health, Fanta Bai Secka, deputy permanent secretary admin/finance at the Ministry of Health, thanked the new board member for what she called ‘accepting their invitation to serve in the board of the hospital’.
DPS Secka also informed the new board and hospital management about the Ministry’s newly introduced result-based financing for health, which she said, is the need to meet the targets for indicators and their account is credited. “We are implementing the multi-million dollar project supported by The Gambia government and World Bank. It is on target and I am certain with the caliber board member here they would ensure and give all the support to the CEO to strengthen services delivery at the hospital.”
Madam Secka also spoke briefly about the health insurance scheme, noting that gone are the days when hospitals would complaint of shortage of drugs and funding.
She assured that the Ministry would continue to allocate subvention to enhance service delivery at the hospital, reminding that members of the community expects a lot from them and they need to provide those services.
The new board has Ousman Dampha- former Chief Executive Officer, Royal Victoria Hospital as chairperson, Agnes MacCauley- Deputy Accountant General (Financial Adviser); Marie Therese Gomez, Ministry of Justice (Legal Adviser); Fatou Waggeh- Director, BAFROW- Medical Center (Member); Fatu Camara- CEO Fatu Network (Member); Naffie Barry, Retired Civil Servant and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry (Member)and Basiru Drammeh- Current CEO, Kanifing General Hospital (Member).
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