President Akufo-Addo has reiterated the commitment of his government to completing the construction of the new Eastern Regional Hospital despite the site being overgrown with weeds eight months after sod-cutting.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 22nd July 2020, cut sod for the commencement of construction of Phase One of the new 600-bed Eastern Regional Hospital – a project which was promised to be completed in 36 months.
The President said “Phase one of this new hospital project will involve the construction of a two hundred and eighty-five (285) bed facility, out of the total capacity of six hundred (600) beds. Once fully completed, it will be fitted with the requisite teaching and learning facilities, and will position the Eastern Region on the right side of the healthcare map of our country.”
When completed, the new Eastern Regional Hospital will handle and help improve acute care and referral services, as well as lends support to the ever-expanding scope of primary healthcare facilities. Additionally, it will support the development of mutual health insurance organizations within the region and its districts.
President assured during the ceremony that the entire hospital project will cost seventy million euros (€70 million) which funding had already been secured from Standard Chartered Bank, UK, with credit guarantee support from the United Kingdom Export Financing (UKEF) to the tune of €7,920,000.00.
The hospital set to cover a total floor area of approximately 20,000 m2, would have administration, training, conference and teaching facilities; out-patient department; accident and emergency services; adjunct clinical services (pharmacy, imaging with MRI); pathological services; surgical services, including the provision of seven (7) theatres and endoscopy; obstetrics and gynecology; in-patient wards; burns care unit; ICT installations and provision of Health Information Management System (HIMS); medical waste management system; and provision of mixed type accommodation units for hospital workers.
The site was subsequently handed over to the contractor on Thursday, October 29, 2020, by the former Eastern Regional Minister Eric Kwakye Darfuor assuring that work was about to begin however not has been done at the site.
Delivery the first state of the Nation Address in his second tenure Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Parliament, President Akufo Addo said “last year, thirty-three
(33) Major health projects were approved for implementation for eight hundred and ninety million euros (€890 million). Key amongst them are the Koforidua Regional Hospital, Tema General Hospital, the Nephrology and Urology Centre at Korle-Bu, Redevelopment of the Effia
Nkwanta Hospital into a Teaching Hospital, and the Construction of a new Regional Hospital at Agona Nkwanta in the Western Region.”
According to him “as announced last year, Agenda 111, which will see to the construction of 100-bed District Hospitals in one hundred and one (101) Districts with no hospitals, seven (7) Regional Hospitals for the new Regions, including one for the Western Region, the construction of two (2) new psychiatric hospitals for the Middle Belt and Northern Belt, respectively, and the rehabilitation of Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region is on course.
He said “construction of some of these hospitals has commenced, and will continue without interruption. Agenda 111, the largest ever investment in healthcare infrastructure in our history, is part of a massive vision for Ghana’s healthcare sector, the realization of which will lead to Ghana becoming a Centre of Medical Excellence and a destination for medical tourism, and will also see us achieve the following:
1. Each of the sixteen (16) regional hospitals will be designated as a Centre of Excellence in the different specialties of medicine. For example, orthopedic surgery, burns, plastic and reconstructive surgery, breast care center, fertility center, neonatology and pediatric center, neurosurgery and spine center, stroke center, heart and kidney center and mental health center to name a few;
2. Continuously upgrade our medical curriculum, and continue to train our young doctors and health care professionals in a world-class fashion.
3. Incentivize the private sector to increase capacity to support demand in healthcare delivery; and
4. Encourage Ghanaian medical experts in the diaspora to collaborate and join hands with us to help build and contribute to the realization of this noble vision.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah