SDA Church steps in to rescue overstretched Wa Municipal Hospital from environmental crisis

The Wa Municipal Hospital has received a critical environmental intervention from the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church to combat health risks amid severe labour shortages at the facility.

Members of the Wa Central and Peggrie Estate SDA churches dedicated their Sunday to an extensive weeding and sweeping operation across the hospital’s overgrown grounds.

The Wa Central District Head Pastor, Pastor Whaley Asonre Aboungo, explained that the facility was specifically chosen because strict environmental hygiene is essential to protect vulnerable patients from preventable conditions like cholera.

Citing biblical principles from Deuteronomy, Pastor Aboungo emphasised that cleanliness is a daily duty to God and humanity, noting that ignoring this civic responsibility is considered a sin.

The church's intervention highlighted the dire operational constraints facing the healthcare facility. Joseph Adongo, the Wa Municipal Hospital Administrator, revealed that the hospital currently has no dedicated outdoor labourers.

Although the facility already carries over 100 casual workers on its payroll, management faces immense difficulty hiring additional grounds staff. Adongo explained that whenever interior cleaning or cooking staff resign, the hospital is forced to pull its outdoor contract laborers inside, leaving the exterior environment neglected.

Expressing profound gratitude for the intervention, he appealed to other corporate bodies and religious organisations to emulate the SDA Church’s initiative to support their overstretched workforce.

Local leaders are leveraging this event to advocate for broader, systemic changes to waste management across the municipality.

Pastor Aboungo appealed directly to the President, regional ministers, and municipal chief executives to deploy public dustbins at strategic corners to actively discourage littering.

Addressing the structural issues, Municipal Environmental Health Officer Kanyiti Razak urged a shift from a linear waste disposal system to a circular economy that treats waste as a resource. Mr Razak recommended that citizens practice strict waste segregation at the source to reduce the volume of refuse transported to final disposal sites, and he challenged local religious leaders to dedicate at least five minutes of their regular services to sanitation education.

Moving forward, the SDA leadership plans to evaluate the uncompleted portions of the hospital grounds before deciding whether to return next month or redirect their ongoing community cleanup efforts to other public spaces, such as local markets.