Interior Minister commissions second Police Hospital in Kumasi
A second Police Hospital to provide state of the art medical services to officers, their families and the general public has been commissioned in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
The 50-bed capacity medical facility was fully funded internally through the welfare scheme of the Ghana Police Service, thereby becoming the second police hospital to be established after that of Accra which was constructed in 1976.
The actual construction of the facility was started by the then Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Nathan Kofi Boakye (rtd) in 2015 but stalled along the way at the foundation level due to some challenges.
However, the execution of the project was revived in 2020 after an overwhelming endorsement by the steering committee of the police welfare scheme leading to its eventual completion to serve its intended purposes.
The fully-equipped facility has a standby ambulance to attend to emergency services.
Currently, work is ongoing towards the completion of the 100-bed capacity police hospital in Tamale which is expected to be completed by the end of the year to complement the provision of quality health care services to the people in the area.
Impressed
Commissioning the project last Thursday, the Minister for the Interior, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, said he was deeply impressed and genuinely inspired that the facility was not built by external donors or central government subvention but through the collective strengths of the police service.
The new police hospital
He commended the leadership of the police administration for taking the bold step to ensure sustainable access to health care for the personnel who risk their lives daily for the security of the country.
As the sector minister, he pledged to ensure that the facility is well-equipped and maintained to the highest standards to stand the test of time, and equally implored the police administration to ensure high maintenance culture to keep the hospital in good condition at all times”.
The minister announced that he had directed the recruitment of medical staff for the Tamale and Kumasi police hospitals to enable them to operate to their full capacity for the benefit of the users.
Years of Attempt
Speaking at the ceremony, the Director-General of Welfare of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Iddi Lansah Seidu, said since the establishment of the police hospital in Accra, there had been attempts to replicate it in other parts of the country.
He said the intention was to ensure effective healthcare delivery for personnel and their dependents, adding “over the years, what the police administration could do was to construct clinics”.
Clear symbol
In a welcome address, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Emmanuel Teye Cudjoe, said the facility stands as a clear symbol of the police administration’s unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of its officers, their families and the general public.
He said the establishment of the hospital would significantly reduce the challenge of taking suspects to external medical facilities under armed guard, stressing “such a situation often inconvenienced medical staff, other patients and other users of the facility”.
Writer’s email; gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh.
