By Solomon T. Gaye
The Administrator of Ganta United Methodist Hospital, Allen Zomonway, says the lack of financial support from government is hampering the smooth running of the health center in Nimba County.
He explained that the abrupt reduction of the government subsidy from US$300,000 to US$25,000 is affecting the smooth running of the health center.
According to Methodist Hospital Administrator, over US$21,000 of government subsidy to the hospital is used for salaries and other expenditure pertaining to the hospital.
“Condition at the health center is declining every day. The hospital has about 265 persons in its employ, and there are over 150 beds that these persons have to care for. So, if we want to run the hospital at an international standard, we will need money to pay workers and bring in standardized drugs for our patients,” the Administrator disclosed.
“The aggrieved workers are demanding three months’ salary arrears; we are appealing to philanthropists, as well as local and international NGOs operating in the country, to extend their services at the hospital to save lives,” Zomonway pleaded.
Since 2019, our overseas partners are no longer sending help to cater to needy patients undergoing medical treatment at the hospital,” he said.
He charged that since 2018, the Government of Liberia reduced its US$30,000 subsidy to the hospital to US$25,000, which is still not forthcoming, which has raised serious concerns among the workers and hospital administration.
Zomonway made the appeal to the government during a consultative meeting with the aggrieved health workers at the hospital’s conference room over the weekend in Nimba County.
Since the beginning of February 2024, aggrieved workers of the Ganta Methodist Hospital deserted the hospital and left patients vulnerable, in demands of salary, good working condition, among other things.
Since the go-slow action by the aggrieved workers, there has been no official press statement regarding the situation from Representative Samuel Brown.
