By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, July 19, GNA – All things being equal, the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga is expected to commence postgraduate medical training in January 2026, a major step towards strengthening healthcare delivery in the region.
The announcement was made by Professor Richard Adanu, Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, during an official visit to assess the facility’s readiness to host the programme.
Professor Adanu, who was accompanied by Dr Abdulai Abukari, Director in charge of Special Duties at the Office of the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, and Mr Donatus Atanga Akamugri, the Upper East Regional Minister, expressed hope about the initiative following an inspection tour of the hospital.
He stated that while not all specialties would be started immediately due to infrastructural limitations, training in four key disciplines, namely Pediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Surgery, and General Internal Medicine, could begin as planned.
“I want to assure that once everything goes according to plan, we will get something started in January,” Professor Adanu said.
He emphasized that the programme would tap into the expertise of medical trainers already posted to the facility and pledged to work with relevant specialties in Accra to fast-track the rollout.
Professor Adanu further noted that when the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences’ medical school is approved and operationalised, the Upper East Region could become a model hub for medical education and specialist training in Ghana.
“Medical students will also come here, and this region will become a model where medical students are being taught by doctors who are in training and advanced specialists also going on here,” he said.
The Regional Minister lauded the initiative, describing it as a timely intervention to address the shortage of doctors and critical health professionals in the region.
He reiterated government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for the training programme and urged all stakeholders to support its successful implementation.
Over the years, the Upper East Region with population of over 1.3 million people, has been battling with shortage of health workers, particularly medical doctors and essential critical staff, putting a toll on access to quality healthcare delivery in the region.
Currently, the doctor to patient ratio in the region stands at 1:24,124 which is way above the World Health Organisation accepted ratio of 1:1000 while there have been several instances medical doctors refused posting to the region.
Therefore, the planned postgraduate medical training programme is expected to improve healthcare delivery, reduce referrals to distant tertiary hospitals, and build long-term capacity within the region’s health sector.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali /Kenneth Odeng Adade