By: Mercy Darko
A ground-breaking ceremony has been held to kick-start the construction of a 100-bed hospital for the Ejura Sekyedumase District in the Ashanti Region.
The hospital, being constructed, is part of the government’s flagship programme, Agenda 111.
The Ejura project which is expected to be completed in 18 months at a cost of 16 million dollars will have state-of-the-art equipment including X-Ray machines, medical gases, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI, Ultrasound and a Microbiology Analyzer. It is also expected to have accommodation for some staff.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in a brief remark at the ceremony, reiterated the government’s commitment to securing the welfare of all persons in the country, hence the decision, among others, to construct 111 hospitals.
The Agenda 111 project of the government seeks to construct 101 district hospitals in areas without district hospitals and the construction of two psychiatric hospitals for the middle and the southern belts, seven regional hospitals and the rehabilitation of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
Vice President Bawumia said the project is the biggest investment in hospital infrastructure in the country since Independence stressing that the government wants to ensure that every district has a hospital.
Dr. Bawumia mentioned a number of initiatives taken to increase access to, and improve delivery of health care, such as the provision of ambulances nationwide under the One Constituency One Ambulance programme; ongoing networking of hospitals to facilitate access to medical records; introduction of the drone medical delivery system; and the E-Pharmacy regime.
He said the government will continue to explore ways to improve healthcare delivery.
The Chief of Ejura, Barima Osei Hwedie expressed delight at the quantum of projects undertaken by the government in Ejura and its environs in the past six and a half years, facilitated through the efforts of the Vice President.
He urged his people to support national development projects.