The Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon. Simon Osei-Mensah on 11 December 2023 noted that in his estimation, 25 new hospitals should be completed by the end of 2024 within the Ashanti Region.
This was made known when the Regional Minister held a press briefing on development within the health sector in the Ashanti Region since January 2017.
The press briefing which is the first in a series of sectoral briefings expected to be held monthly saw the presence of MMDCES, Heads of Department, and representatives of various groups within the Region.
Ashanti Regional Minister making a presentation and a cross-section of participants
Inherited health projects have not been abandoned
Hon. Simon Osei-Mensah noted that the current government took over a number of health projects and programmes such as the capitation policy, KATH Maternity and Children’s Block project, and hospital projects at Sewua, Bekwai, Fomena, Tepa, Konongo and Afari. According to the Minister, the government continued working on these hospitals and a number of them such as Konongo, Tepa, Fomena and Sewua hospitals are all completed with work on the remaining still ongoing.
According to Hon. Simon Osei-Mensah, the assertion that the current government has abandoned inherited projects is therefore not a true reflection of what is on the ground. ‘Indeed, through the intervention of the Rebecca Foundation there is a fit for purpose Mother and Baby unit at KATH’, he added.
An aerial view of the completed Bekwai and Konongo Government Hospitals
Newly initiated projects
The Ashanti Regional Minister indicated that the government since 2017 has also initiated a number of health projects of which the Ashanti Region has its fair share. These projects are the Zipline drone supply centre at Mampong, infectious diseases treatment centres at Sewua and Atonsu Agogo, Trauma and accident hospital at Obuasi, 6 District hospitals and 16 agenda 111 projects as well as one constituency one ambulance initiative of which the Ashanti Region was supplied with 49 ambulances.
The Regional Minister expressed the optimism that about 25 of these health projects would be completed by 2024 to benefit the people within the Region.
Also, the Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Health Services, Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang added that from data available to him about 32 hospital projects have been initiated and are at various stages of completion. These to him is impressive and expressed the hope that they will be completed to benefit the people of Ashanti Region.