Timely completion of La General Hospital necessary
THE importance of an effective healthcare system to the well-being of the people cannot be overemphasised. That is why governments all over the world, especially in developing countries, put premium on providing the facilities closer to the people because a healthy people results in a wealthy nation.
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In Ghana, all our governments when accounting for their stewardship or enumerating their achievements have always captured the provision and improvement of health infrastructure and systems.
Thus, when the government detected the structural defects of the La General Hospital in the Greater Accra Region, it decided to pull it down for a complete reconstruction of the hospital that will not only expand its capacity but will be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment.
It was, therefore, with much excitement that the residents within the catchment area welcomed the sod-cutting ceremony by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in August 2020 for the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project after it was demolished in July 2020.
However, due to financial challenges, the project stalled, with some residents and some National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament protesting on countless occasions, including asking the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, an urgent question in Parliament on the state of the project.
Fortunately, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, after a visit to the site, has given assurance that funds had been secured for work to resume (See December 2, 2023 issue of the Daily Graphic).
The good news from the visit was the assurance of the government’s commitment to release funds on time to ensure smooth execution and completion of the project on time.
The Daily Graphic joins the minister in urging the contactors to stay focused and expedite the completion of the project.
We are aware of how critical the hospital is in providing the residents of La and surrounding areas with access to high quality health care. Aside from that, it will also help ease the congestion at some of the health centres within the national capital.
We need to remind ourselves that apart from serving as an employment avenue for health professionals, it also provides employment opportunities for ancillary workers both in the formal and informal health sectors, such as maintenance and catering workers.
Any government that is able to complete such projects would also be reducing the unemployment rate in the country.
We must point out that these are some of the benefits we derive from democracy as the government responds to the cries of the people by seeking alternative local funding to complete the project.
Although the 60-bed capacity hospital has been maintained, with the appropriate designs, the cost has been revised from €57 million to €50 million.
We are happy that the contract sum of the project has reduced and it is a feather in the cap of those who helped in that regard. The question remains whether taking a cue from the La General Hospital we can see how best the country can benefit from some of the low-cost or cost-cutting measures.
Already, the government is executing its Agenda 111 hospital projects, and it will not be a bad idea to revisit the costs, and those of other uncompleted projects to ensure that the projects are completed on time.
The Daily Graphic believes that executing such projects will speed up the pace of development in the country. We assure the minister of finance and the contractors that the Daily Graphic will keep an eye on the project to ensure its successful completion and utilisation.
La General Hospital is a key infrastructure in the country’s healthcare delivery, and therefore, its availability and operation is very important to not just the people of La and its environs but to the nation as a whole.
