A newly constructed Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound has been commissioned in the community, bringing healthcare services closer to residents of Kojina Essakrom.
For years, residents had to leave the community to seek medical attention, a situation they say was particularly challenging for pregnant women, children, and the elderly.
For some families, accessing healthcare also meant finding money for transportation before they could get treatment.
With the commissioning of this CHPS compound, residents of Kojina Essakrom in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality of the Western North Region have been spared the four to five-kilometre journey they previously made to access basic healthcare.
Residents who spoke at the commissioning welcomed the facility but said its availability must translate into reliable healthcare services.
They want the facility to have the necessary health personnel, medicines, and equipment to ensure they do not have to travel outside the community when they need basic medical care.
The new CHPS compound includes a three-bedroom accommodation for nurses and other facilities intended to support the provision of basic healthcare services.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Sefwi-Wiawso, Dominic Gyasi, said the project forms part of efforts to improve access to healthcare in communities across the municipality.
He urged the Ghana Health Service to ensure the facility is properly utilised for the benefit of residents.
The Acting Municipal Health Director, Rebecca Armoo, said bringing healthcare closer to residents could encourage people to seek medical attention earlier.
She said the facility would help reduce the difficulty residents face in accessing basic healthcare. Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Sefwi-Wiawso, Kofi Benteh Afful, has reaffirmed government’s commitment to expanding healthcare infrastructure in the constituency.
He said the provision of health facilities remains important to improving access to healthcare and urged residents to remain patient as government works on other development needs, including job creation for young people.
The MP’s comments come as the government rolls out its free primary healthcare initiative, with the Sefwi-Wiawso area listed among the districts selected to benefit from the programme.
The journey to construct the Kojina Essakrom facility began on November 28, 2025, when the chiefs and the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Assembly cut sod for the project.
With the facility now commissioned, residents say their immediate concern is no longer the distance to healthcare but whether the facility will consistently provide the services they need.
For a community that once had to travel several kilometres for basic medical attention, the real impact of the CHPS compound will be seen in the months ahead — when a sick child, an expectant mother, or an elderly resident needs care and can finally find it within the community.
