University of Ghana To Construct A 600-bed Teaching Hospital

The University of Ghana, Legon through the Government of Ghana has acquired a loan facility of US$217m from the Israeli Government to build a 600-bed teaching hospital at Legon. When completed, the University�s medical school and its other health institutions would be relocated from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where it currently operates from. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for trauma and emergency service with a heliport and internal medicine including Surgery, Obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, cardiology, heart surgery and medicinal imaging. Speaking at the ceremony to honor the commencement of the project, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ernest Aryeetey admitted the hospital would be a model of the Sheba Medical Centre at Tel HaShomer, Ramat Gan, Israel. He acknowledged the idea to promote inter-disciplinary research and teaching when the hospital is commissioned. �It will also provide additional opportunity for inter-disciplinary research and teaching which ultimately enhance the quality of facilities available for modern medical and health science education,� he said. Deputy Minister of Health Rojo Mettle Nunoo reiterated government�s desire to improve the health of the people and added that it will help ease the pressure on the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. He also made known that plans are underway to construct a similar facility at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. When constructed, the University of Ghana will be the first tertiary institution in the country to have a teaching hospital of this kind.