The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Solomon Quartey, has assured that reconstruction of the La General Hospital will begin by end of first-quarter 2023.
He made this revelation during an interview to provide an update on reconstruction of the La General Hospital, in a bid to restore calm and confidence to the residents of La following reports of tension over delays in reconstructing the facility.
In July 2020, the La General Hospital was demolished following a report made in 2015 by the hospital’s administration of severe structural problems. Later, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on August 10, 2020 cut the sod for commencement of the La General Hospital Redevelopment project. However, the project has suffered long delays.
Mr. Quartey therefore appealed to the chiefs and people of La to exercise patience in their demand for reconstruction of the hospital.
According to the MCE, government has a comprehensive plan for reconstructing the facility: “We had good intentions for demolishing the dangerous five-storey La General Hospital structure. I will take this opportunity to plead with the good people of La to be measured in their demand for reconstruction of the collapsed General Hospital”.
He cited the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as a major stumbling block for the reconstruction exercise. He mentioned that China – the donor partner funding the La General Hospital’s redevelopment project – had to pull out of the project due to the pandemic.
Currently, the project is being financed by a credit facility from Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom, with an export credit guarantee from Sinosure of the People’s Republic of China to the tune of €68million with an insurance cover of €3.86million
The reconstruction exercise will be undertaken by a Chinese company Poly Changda. Upon completion, it will be transformed into a 160-bed facility fitted with an outpatient department; inpatient wards; maternity and neonatal services; surgical unit with four theatres; accident and emergency department; public health department; pharmacy unit; laboratory; administration; imaging area with CT Scan, X-ray room, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, mammography units; physiotherapy unit; and a mortuary.
In a related development, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Isaac Baah Ofei, in a statement assured that government is making frantic efforts to reconstruct the hospital.
“Government is seriously working within timelines: it is seriously pushing for the people of La. Because we are being held accountable, I do not want to put out a date; but one thing I can say for sure is that the minister is not happy with the situation. He is not sleeping on the matter, and has thus taken it upon himself to consult and engage. So, the people of La will have access to healthcare once the project takes off,” it said.
