MoH highlights 7-year investment plan

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Bernice Dahn, has highlighted a seven-year investment plan for the health sector of Liberia. Minister Dahn said the first two years of the plan involves renovation and upgrading of the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Montserrado County; the J.J. Dossen Memorial Hospital in Harper City, Maryland County and the Phebe Hospital in Bong County, respectively.

Dr. Dahn spoke Thursday, 3 September at the New Incident Management System center in Congo Town outside Monrovia when she received Liberia’s second Ebola-freed certificate from the World Health Organization or W.H.O. after 42 days countdown.

She said in the first two years of the plan, the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town on Bushrod Island will be relocated to Caldwell Township on three acres of land, and expanded to a 300-bedroom hospital, which will include an isolation center for any future Ebola outbreak, adding that formal ground breaking is underway.

The minister added that the J.J. Dossen Hospital in Harper will also be upgraded and the Phebe Hospital will be renovated and upgraded with improved facilities.  The minister said all three hospitals after renovation and expansion will have isolation centersto specifically handle future outbreaks, and that renovation and upgrading of the Phebe Hospital in Bong will cost US$11 million.

The Ministry of Health is in close collaboration with the National Housing Authority (N.H.A) to secure housing units for health care workers in the country at affordable rentals, while advocating for improved salary for health care workers and place those health workers not receiving salary on the payroll.

“The Ministry of Health alone does not have the power to put staffs on payroll, so we have a team that constitute member from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Civil Services Agency and the Ministry of Health”, Minister Dahn explained.

By Ethel A. Tweh – Editing by Jonathan Browne