President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, cut the sod for the construction of a 600-capacity bed Eastern Regional Hospital which is expected to be completed in 36 months.
The hospital would be fitted with the requisite teaching and learning facilities that would position the Eastern Region on the right side of the healthcare map of Ghana.
When completed, the hospital would handle acute and referral cases and also lend support to other health facilities in the region.
The government has secured €70 million from the Standard Chartered Bank, UK, with a credit guarantee support from the United Kingdom Export Financing (UKEF) of €7,920,000.
“Ghana continues to be grateful to UKEF for their continued support in our infrastructure development programme for all sectors of our economy. I am happy to state that the entire funding amount 70 million Euros has already been secured for Tyllium U.K. Ltd, the contractors for this project. They must, therefore, ensure that this project is completed within the thirty-six (36) month period and on budget,” President Akufo-Addo said.
President Akufo-Addo said the outbreak of COVID-19 had revealed the unequal distribution of healthcare facilities in Ghana, as the nation had focused its infrastructure projects in Accra and a few other big cities.
He said 101 districts in the country were without hospitals and the six new regions are yet to receive regional hospitals, adding that the country does not have infectious disease control centres at some urban and rural areas.
He assured that this deficit would soon be a thing of the past as the government intends to build 101 district hospitals so that every district in Ghana would have a health facility
In addition to this, President Akufo-Addo said that the government would build six new regional hospitals in the six new regions and rehabilitate Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in Sekondi, to health accessible to all Ghanaians.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
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