A joint legislative committee comprising Ways, Means & Finance and Health has been mandated by the House of Representatives to review a communication seeking budgetary allotment for Bensonville Referral Hospital.
Bentol City is in rural Montserrado with a catchment population of more than 56,000 persons, who depend on the Bensonville Hospital for healthcare as per the National Elections Commission (NEC) 2023 statistics.
A release issued by the House Press Bureau Thursday, February 22, 2024 says plenary reached the decision following a communication submitted by Montserrado County’s district #1 Representative, Rugie Yatu Barry.
Representative Barry said for the last six years monies annually allotted by the government for the hospital were less than half of the actual budget needed to run the hospital, and were never received in full.
According to her, based on the persistent constraints the hospital now stands in dire need of critical assistance to keep its doors open and to cater to the health of the population, which is mostly subsistence farming communities within the district.
“These challenges do not only hinder the hospital’s ability to provide quality healthcare services but continuously jeopardizes the health and well-being of our district and the surrounding public, who rely on its services,” she said.
The Montserrado County district #1 Representative said the hospital was constructed in the 70s by President Williams R. Tolbert Jr., and its first major renovation was done in 2012 by USAID. She said it needs urgent attention, ranging from general renovation of the hospital to include floor, rewiring of various departments, replacement of door, ceiling, roof work and painting, construction of hallways between the emergency room and OPD, construction of a new storage facility,expansion of the conference room, reconditioning of the old operating room and transforming it into a patient ward, revitalization of the hospital water system, general maintenance work on the doctors’ residence, supply of hospital furniture, procurement of essential drugs, revitalization of the patients’ feeding services, training of hospital registrars and other staff in basic computer skills, procurement of stationeries/office supplies, fuel,maintenance of the generator, and provision of a 32-seater bus to commute hospital staff.
“I urge the honorable Speaker and members to kindly consider this matter with the utmost urgency and to take appropriate action to address the needs of the only referral hospital in the district. Our constituents deserve access to adequate healthcare facilities and services, and it is our duty as elected representatives to ensure that citizens receive the support and assistance they require,” she added.