Koforidua, July 23, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for construction to begin on the first phase of the 70-million-Euros modern-hospital for the Eastern Region.
The first phase of the project, being sited at Koforidua, would develop a 285-bed facility with the capacity to expand to a 600-bed hospital.
It is expected to be completed in 36 months.
Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony, President Akufo- Addo said the funding for the project had been fully secured from the Standard Charted Bank of the United Kingdom, with a guarantee from the United Kingdom Export Finance to the tune of 7,920,000 Euros.
The President, therefore, charged the contractors for the project to ensure that the hospital was completed on schedule and within the budgetary allocation.
He explained that the project was in fulfillment of his pledge in 2017, following his tour of the region and a promise to work towards the filling of the gaps in the healthcare delivery service in the area.
The President announced that work would soon start on the construction of a 100-bed capacity hospital for each of the 101 districts with no district hospitals.
The six regions with no regional hospitals would also see their projects beginning shortly.
Nana Akufo- Addo said the Government would additionally rehabilitate and upgrade health facilities across the country to provide quality healthcare to all Ghanaians, irrespective of their location.
He said the improvement of health care delivery across the country was also aimed at developing Ghana to become a destination for health tourism in the sub-region.
The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, said a lot of hospitals and health facilities were under rehabilitation, retooling and reconstruction to improve healthcare delivery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Member of Parliament for New Juaben North, and a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Nana Adjei Boateng, said the chiefs and people of Eastern Region were grateful to the President for the new facility.
He said the proposal for the construction of the regional hospital was first made in the 2014 Budget, but it was not executed.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour, gave the assurance that the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council would monitor the project and ensure that the contractor completed the project on schedule.
GNA