Management of the Eastern Regional Hospital has begun investigations into circumstances leading to the unauthorised release of the mortal remains of a suspected Covid-19 positive patient by the hospital’s mortuary workers.
According to the management, the mortuary workers flouted the authorized procedure of releasing dead bodies suspected to have tested positive to Covid-19 to the bereaved family.
Addressing the media in Koforidua on Wednesday, the Clinical Director of the hospital, Dr Foster Amponsah-Manu, said management had taken the issue seriously and would begin its own internal investigation while assisting the police to also do their investigations. He gave the assurance that the hospital would not shield anyone involved in such act.
Background
On Sunday March 14, environmental health officers from the New Juaben South Municipal Assembly noticed some irregularities with the documents said to have been signed by the Eastern Regional hospital authorities and handed over to the family of Janet Nyarkoa, the deceased.
The New Juaben South Municipal Environmental Officer, Emmanuel Tetteh, said he had to rush to the cemetery to block the family from going ahead with the burial.
He said it was wrong for the mortuary workers at the Eastern Regional Hospital to have released the body of a supposedly Covid-19 patient to the family, knowing the protocols for the burial of such bodies.
“I had to stop them from burying the dead body after we found out about the condition surrounding the body. After speaking with some of the family members, it appeared that the body was released to them by the hospital’s mortuary workers at dawn on Sunday March 4.
“I don’t know why they had to release the body to the family without my concern or without any officer’s knowledge. So after getting to the burial grounds, we ordered them to stop, and we managed to get them to the police station…. We need to find the root cause of all this, and I am happy investigations have commenced at both ends,” Mr Tetteh indicated.
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