The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) discontinued electricity supply to the LEKMA Hospital for over GHS3million in unpaid bills last week.
The Teshie ECG office reportedly declined attempts by the hospital to pay the debt in instalments stating that the payments were way off the required amount.
Forcing the hospital to rely on a standby generator which according to hospital sources cost over GHS20 thousand to maintain a day.
Hospital staff opened windows for ventilation in their bit to reduce cost and power usage in non-essential areas.
It took the intervention of the MP for LEDZOKUKU Constituency, Benjamin Narteh Ayiku for power to finally be restored to the hospital on Thursday.
The MP said the manager of the Teshie ECG office told him the situation was beyond him.
“It was critical, I knelt down, so he called his regional director and he said that is their policy and I told him this is about human lives and if someone dies, we can’t do anything about it,” he added.
After the restoration, he advised management of the hospital to use separate meters to manage cost.
Ayiku also urged the hospital’s management to focus on current bills, and set up a dedicated fund to pay off the debt.
The Ministry of Health early this year warned about potential electricity disconnections at 91 health facilities across the country.
