The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has donated GH¢33,000 to Pantang Hospital to cover treatment costs for vulnerable patients, including people found on the streets and brought to the facility.
The intervention follows discussions during the committee’s review of the Auditor-General’s report, where hospital officials disclosed that the facility had waived debts incurred while treating patients who could not afford their medical bills.
PAC Chairperson and Atiwa East MP, Abena Osei-Asare, on Monday, October 19, said the committee wanted the hospital to remove the outstanding amount from its books.
“Pantang Hospital, on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee, we would like to take this debt off your books. As I said, these are people that they found on the streets that they brought to your facility. So on behalf of all of us here, we’d like you to take care of the cost,” she said.
Receiving the money, the hospital officials thanked the committee for the support, describing the gesture as a relief to the facility.
They also urged the public not to pick up people suspected of having mental health conditions from the streets and leave them at the hospital without proper coordination.
The officials advised the public to contact social welfare officers at the relevant assemblies and the police to ensure such cases are handled appropriately.
They explained that district assemblies could use their disability funds to support treatment costs, with the hospital’s social welfare department helping to coordinate the process.
The hospital warned that treating patients without a clear arrangement for covering their bills places pressure on its limited resources, including medicines and other consumables.