The Director of infrastructure at the Ministry of Health (MoH), Mr. Ben Nkansah together with eight other staff of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have proposed to the minister for health to use the recently demolished Agbogbloshie land for an ultra-modern children hospital in Accra.
“The team propose to the minister of health, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu in his engagement with the relevant authorities to negotiate a minimum land area of 30-acres for this project on the recently demolished Agbogbloshie land”. -The director of infrastructure at the MoH said
“For future expansion we implore the minister to also look for additional 50-acre for the purpose of ensuring that the future development is well taken care of.” He added
The children hospital according to Mr. Ben Nkansah will include a cardio, oncology, surgery and rehabilitation centres with specialized and general services.
“The hospital will provide general and specialized services including cardio, oncology, surgery and rehabilitation and will become a one shop for pediatric services”.
The recommendation came after a 9-member team of health professionals from the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service took part in a 5-day workshop in Germany, Hamburg in physical and digital infrastructure of health sector in partnership with the African German Association.
The team then selected some three health facilities for assessment after which these facilities were rehabilitated.
The team then were tasked to look into the various aspects of hospital planning and development towards the preparation of a sample design of children hospital in Accra.
The Minister for health, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu underscored the value of the training of the 9-member staff of the MoH and GHS, stressing that the training will “add on to the skills of our staff.”
According to the health minister, “one area that is a bit weak in our country is hospital administration. And we don’t have very many experts in that area. Several of our hospitals are managed by doctors, not many of them have tried even to get some serious training in hospital management but they are doing it because it is their responsibility to manage where they are. So, this training will help improve resilient health systems in the country.”
Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu also believes the strategic partnership with the African German Association will ensure that the country achieves universal health coverage.