Hospital Hot

The Family members of the late Osofo Efua Esson, 95, whose body was deposited at the Axim Government Hospital morgue but got lost under mysterious circumstances, have given the hospital authorities a one-month ultimatum to produce the body or face their wrath. The Nsona family members of Apowsika, near Axim in the Western Region, deposited the body of Osofo Esson, who died on April 19, 2011, at the Axim hospital morgue but could not find the body when they went there to retrieve it for burial. Sources at the hospital told Daily Guide that the caretakers at the hospital morgue rather showed the family members the body of a different woman whom they rejected, insisting that the hospital should produce the real body they deposited in their morgue. Other sources at the hospital said the body might have been mistakenly given to a different family. Speaking to Daily Guide, Nana Kofi Seboh II, chief of Apewosika and a family member of the deceased, said the late Osofo Efua Esson was a pastor at St. Anthony Healing Church in the area and died at home on April 19, 2011 after a short illness. He said the body was deposited at the Axim Hospital morgue on the same day after all the expenses had been paid. However, on Friday May 20, 2011, the family members went to the hospital to take the body for burial, only to be shown a body of another person. He said the body of their relation had mistakenly been given to another family that also purportedly deposited their dead body at the morgue. �In fact, when they brought the body from the refrigerator, the family realized that it had its hair plaited but Osofo Esson�s hair was not plaited before or after she died, so they realized that the body was not our relation,� he added. The chief of Apewosika mentioned that when the family members deposited Osofo Esson�s body at the Axim Hospital, the family acquired all the necessary documents that proved that the body was indeed deposited at the morgue. He stressed that it was the responsibility of the health workers to have tagged their relation for easy identification. He indicated that the case had been reported to the police and that at a meeting with the authorities of the hospital, the police and the family members yesterday, the family issued a one-month ultimatum to the health facility to search for the body or face their wrath. He said even though the body had not been found, the necessary rituals had been performed by the family members, most of whom hailed from Dutch Komenda in the Central Region, and the funeral rites had already taken place. When contacted, Owusu Asare, Administrator of the Axim Government Hospital, confirmed the missing body at the hospital�s morgue. He noted that there was an unclaimed body now at the morgue and believed that the mortuary attendants might have mistakenly released the body of Osofo Esson to another family When Daily Guide called the Acting Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, Mathias Tengan, he confirmed that the family of the alleged missing body had given the hospital a one-month ultimatum to find the body. He said the hospital was collaborating with the police to help trace the body so that it could be released to the family for burial. Speaking to Daily Guide, DSP Kojo Nkansah, Axim District Police Commander, confirmed that indeed the family had lodged a complaint with his outfit of their relation�s missing body from the Axim Government Hospital. He said the police, in collaboration with the hospital authorities, had intensified investigations into the case to trace Osofo Esson�s body for the Apewosika Nsona family to bury her.