Select committee on health visits Legon Hospital project site
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Health has paid a working visit to the University of Ghana Teaching Hospital project site to acquaint themselves with the level of work done.
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The visit provided the avenue for members of the committee to interact with engineers and contractors on the project to ascertain their difficulties and challenges in the construction of the hospital.
Background of project
On March 12, 2011, Professor John Evans Atta Mills cut the sod for the construction of a teaching hospital, valued at $184,740,001, at the University of Ghana and in June 2011, the Cabinet gave its approval for a loan facility from Israel for the construction of the hospital.
The construction is under two phases; the first phase will provide 600 beds when completed and phase two will provide an additional 400 beds, bringing the total to 1,000.
Construction works are expected to be completed in 2016.
Training of medical personnel
Welcoming the members of the committee to the project site, the outgoing Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, said the completion of the project would enhance the training of medical practitioners in Ghana.
She stated that seminar rooms would also be constructed at the Ho Regional Hospital and added that imaging equipment would be supplied to the hospital and the Hohoe Regional Hospital to facilitate medical training.
Ms Ayittey said selected medical practitioners would be sent to Israel to undergo a training programme that would enable them to operate effectively in the hospital.
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Features of hospital
The Project Co-ordinator for the facility, Professor Aaron Lante Lawson, told the committee that the central building of the hospital would have an emergency room, operating theatres, laboratories and a mechanical room.
He also said the hospital would have a maternity and pediatric block with facilities that would cater for in-vitro fertilisation. Accommodation facilities for hospital staff would also be constructed.
Prof. Lawson stated that the hospital would have a helipad, a parking space and a morgue.
Citing some of the challenges encountered by the contractors and consultants on the project, Prof. Lawson said the inability of the state to grant tax exemptions on the procurement of materials had increased the cost of procuring the requisite materials.
What triggered a debate was the intended fee-paying price to be charged at the maternity block of the hospital.
In his explanation, Prof. Lawson said the fee-paying charge was intended to raise additional revenue for the maintenance and the effective administration of the hospital.
After touring the facility, some members of the committee advised officials of the Ministry of Health to ensure that the management structure of the hospital was well-defined to avert any disagreements relating to ownership and management with authorities of the University of Ghana.
Other members enquired about the long-term sustenance and viability of the current University of Ghana Hospital after the completion of the project and the construction of access routes to the hospital.
Responding to the concerns raised, Prof. Lawson said discussions were being held to upgrade the University of Ghana Hospital into a district hospital when the project is completed.
Utility supply
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle Nunoo, told the committee that alternative access routes to the hospital were being considered and the ministry was in negotiations with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company (GWC) to ensure the regular supply of power and water.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Joseph Yileh-Chireh, said the committee visited the project site to assess the level of work done by the contractors.