President Akufo-Addo has broken grounds for the construction of a 400-bed maternity block for the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) and the reconstruction of the La General Hospital.
The grounds breaking ceremony took place yesterday at separate ceremonies held in Accra.
The current maternity block at KBTH is in a very deplorable state; a scene President Akufo-Addo expressed concerned over, but said that motivated him to put up a new facility.
Aside from the 12-storey 400-bed Maternity and Gynaecological Centre, the KBTH would also have a two-storey 110-bed Urology and Nephrology Centre constructed.
The projects are expected to begin this year and completed in 2022, and would run paperless service, installed ICT equipment, CCTV and the relevant software to provide seamless care delivery to Ghanaians, the Chief Executive Officer of KBTH, Dr Daniel Asare, stated.
In his remarks at the Korle Bu ceremony, President Akufo-Addo said that “the commencement of work of these two projects, in addition to the reactivation of construction work on the abandoned 750 bed maternity and children’s block at the KATH in Kumasi, will significantly reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates in our country.”
Stressing the tremendous role of the over 90 years old Korle Bu Hospital, President Akufo-Addo revealed that on his visit to the hospital to commission the Intensive Care Unit of the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Center, he was struck by the poor state of the maternity block.
“I was struck by the poor state of the maternity block. I promised to help remedy the situation as the current state of the building is not fit for purpose. This ceremony is certainly a fulfillment of the pledge I made,” he opined.
He also said: “Government has secured an amount of €145,220,000 from Standard Chartered Bank to cover the cost of the project, with the export credit guarantee from the Swedish Export Credit towards the reconstruction of the maternity block.”
He continued: “The project has an insurance cover of some €19 million, and it is to be constructed through a joint venture entity known as HEDEBI JV,” adding that “the partners of this group are Rizzani De Eccher, Vamed Engineering GmbH, and Hospital Engineering Limited.
“The 12-storey maternity block will have the complete functional package for the delivery of maternal services with the following components; 400 capacity, 20 labour delivery room, 100-seater waiting area, 26 recovery wards, 18 treatment rooms, 24 consulting rooms, 7 theaters, IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) services, 10 room accommodation for new mothers, 32-seater restaurant with the preparation area, and an emergency unit with its own triage, and operating theater. Indeed, upon completion, the center will be the first public facility to deliver IVF services in the country.
“I’m also happy to inform you that funding to the tune of €38 million has been secured for the construction of Urology and Nephrology Center of Excellence here at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. This is being funded by Reifeisen Bank International AG Limited of Austria, with OEKB Group, again from Austria, providing insurance cover of €4,666,950,” he noted
La General Hospital Reconstruction
At the ground-breaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the La General Hospital, President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the redevelopment project was prompted by a report from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), which indicated that the five-story structure, which has been pulled down, was no longer fit for purpose.
“This redevelopment project is being financed by a credit facility from the Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom, with an export credit guarantee from Syno Shore from the Peoples Republic of China, to the tune of €68,000,000, with an insurance cover of €3,860,000,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He continued that, “Upon completion, it will be transformed into a 160-bed facility. It will be fitted with; an out-patient department, in patient wards, maternal and neonatal services, surgical unit with four theatres, accident and emergency department, public health department, pharmacy unit, laboratory, administration, imaging area with CT scan, x ray room, ultrasound, flouroscopy, mammography units, physiotherapy unit and a mortuary.”
Poly Chanda Overseas Engineering Company Limited will be executing the reconstruction of the La General Hospital.
The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, in his statement, noted that with the development of hospitals all over the country, the phenomenon of health workers seeking to change their postings from cities outside Accra and Kumasi, among others, will no longer be entertained,” he said at the Korle Bu event.
“The biggest challenge facing the Health Ministry is the reluctance of health workers to serve in facilities outside the big cities of Accra, Kumasi, and to some extent, Takoradi. Let me serve notice that this phenomenon will no longer be countenanced, as the country stands the risk of losing out on the achievement of the much-talked about ‘Universal Health Coverage’,” the Health Minister stated.
The post 400-bed maternity block for Korle Bu, La Hospital to be developed appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS