Construction work has begun on the redevelopment of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital to a Teaching Hospital at Sekondi in the Western Region.
This, is to ensure effective and efficient healthcare delivery for the people in the region and beyond.
Amandi Investment Limited, is the contractor for the project, alongside the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service which is represented by the management of Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital as partners.
Currently, the medical and orthopaedic wards have been demolished; and soon, the accidents and emergency centres will also be pulled down.
“All these buildings, which have been pulled down were the platform type and had asbestos roofing which were outmoded and not fit for purpose. The relatively modern ones such as administration, theatre, laundry and old maternity blocks are going to be there but will be renovated to bring them up to a modern stage,” Joseph Kojo Tambil, Medical Director at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, told the B&FT in an interview.
Scope of work
He explained that the project has two components. One is the redevelopment of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital to a tertiary facility. And then, there is a new hospital which is going to act as the new regional facility for the Western Region.
According to him, the new regional facility will be located at Apemanim in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region, and work on it is expected to begin by the close of this year.
Dr. Tambil pointed out that the new facility will be around 250-bed capacity, and that of Effia Nkwanta is moving from around 300 to about 500.
Services to be provided
As a teaching hospital, he said, the new Effia Nkwanta will have everything that will be desired in a tertiary facility.
“All the high-end services, such as the kidney, the oncology, that’s the treatment of cancers; and being able to look at organs, for instance, the heart and some other services which are not common in this country will be in the in the new Effia Nkwanta Hospital,” he stated.
Also, he said the developers are also looking at a lot of synergy between the two hospitals.
“They are looking at a close collaboration between the new regional hospital and the new teaching hospital so that we can better serve the needs of the populace,” he reiterated.
Challenges
According to Dr. Tambil, the hospital has problem with encroachers on their land.
“We have written to the right agencies that can help us in this, and we are working with them. We are working with the Police, the Lands Commission, the Ministry of Health, and we also plead with the traditional authorities to help us preserve the land because Effia Nkwanta is now moving to a stage where it is going to become a major facility not only for the Western Region, but nationally. And we do not want to get to a point where we need land for expansion or for a new facility and we do not have the land for that purpose,” he said.
