The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday handed over medical infrastructure and equipment worth 52 million dollars to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).
The project, which was under a Capital Investment Project, covered facilities such as the Catering and Laundry Departments, the Pediatric theatre, Stroke Ward, the Mammography and the Dental Units.
These units were refurbished and re-equipped with modern equipment to enhance the quality of services provided by the Hospital.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the Ministry and the Management of the KBTH to commit them to set aside monies from their Internally Generated Funds to ensure the sustenance and proper maintenance of these facilities.
Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Health, at the handing over ceremony, urged the management of the Hospital to put in place a comprehensive maintenance programme to ensure the sustenance of the facilities after their three-year warranty expires.
She thanked the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, whose coverage enabled Belstar Development, LLC, a Miami-Based company to insure its investment in the Ghana Medical Equipment Modernisation Project.
She said Belstar was currently partnering with the Ministry of Health for the supply of medical equipment such as gas delivery systems, MRI machines, CT scanners and ultrasound scanners.
Ms Ayittey said the refurbishment and re-equipment project would also have Tamale and Komfo Anokye Teaching hospitals as beneficiaries.
The project, she explained, was designed to replace up to 30 per cent of obsolete medical equipment stock in Teaching and Regional hospitals as well as the national network of District and Mission hospitals throughout the country and close the one billion-dollar gap in Ghana�s health care infrastructure.
She also explained that intensive training programmes for users and maintenance staff with clinical application specialists and original equipment manufacturers had been factored into the project.
The Health Minister commended the KBTH on its 90th anniversary and stated that Government was committed towards giving the Hospital a major facelift to enable it to provide specialised services to Ghanaians to cut down on cost of seeking for such services outside the country.
She said most of the theatres in the various departments were also being refurbished, while a group of foreign medical teams have already indicated their readiness to offer their expertise and technological advise to train more hands to support the advancement of health care services in these hospitals.
She said government appreciated the commitment of the staff of nurses, doctors and all the other medical team, whose hard work and selfless sacrifices have sustained the KBTH over the years.
She, however, apologised to the junior nurses of the hospital for not being paid for 22 months and thanked them for their patience over the period.
Ms Ayittey said government was working with the hospital management to ensure the payment of all arrears due them.
Reverend Albert Botchway, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the KBTH, admitted that the National Medical replacement had been of an immense benefit to the hospital, adding that, the expansion of the Pediatric theatre had reduced the waiting period of children who needed surgery.
In an address read for him, Mr Edward Annan, Board Chairman of the KBTH, thanked government for the massive investment and said the expansion of the kitchen and the laundry had made them more spacious and efficient in their operation.
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