The government’s Agenda 111 Hospitals Project is expected to create over 60,000 jobs upon completion, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.
“There is an average number of 120 workers on each construction site, and when completed, an average of 559 persons will be employed in a district hospital, 1,343 in the regional hospital, and 947 in each psychiatric hospital.
This means that, 67,635 people will be employed in the Agenda 111 Hospitals Project”, he explained, and underscored the significance of the project in solving the nation’s health needs, as well as creating employment opportunities for the people.
President Akufo-Addo announced this during the inauguration and official handover of a 120-bed Sekyere Kumawu District Hospital and a 120-bed Adansi North District Hospital at Kumawu and Fomena, respectively, last Wednesday as part of his four-day working visit to the Ashanti Region.
Present at the ceremonies were chiefs, some government officials, health service workers, and the people of Kumawu and its environs.
Funding
The two facilities, which share a common financial arrangement, are part of six hospital projects and an accommodation unit being executed with $175 million funding secured from the United Kingdom Export Financing in 2012.
“When my government assumed office in 2017, only one facility at Dodowa had been completed, with the others at various stages of completion. “With the remaining balance of $38.8 million, my government has since completed three relative facilities – Kumawu, Fomena and Takoradi”, the President said, adding those were part of a broader agenda by the government to complete numerous healthcare projects.
Upcoming hospitals
Upcoming hospitals set to be inaugurated, the President said, included five health facilities at Elubo, Bogoso, Mpohor, Nsuaem and Wassa Dunkwa in the Western Region, upgrading of one public health facility in Akontombra in the Western North Region and the new Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sawua.
“By the end of 2024, we would also complete several significant projects, including the Urology and Nephrology Centre of Excellence at Korle Bu in Accra”, he said.
Commendation
For his part, the Paramount Chief of Kumawu, Barima Safo Tweneboa Kodua, on behalf of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and people of the Ashanti Region, commended the government for not leaving the region behind in its developmental agenda for the nation.
He said although the hospital had taken longer than expected to complete due to changes in government, the facility had been wholeheartedly accepted by the people.
He also commended the contractor, NMS Infrastructure Limited, for “building such an ultramodern hospital “. He seized the opportunity to appeal to the government to fix the six-kilometre road from Kumawu town to the hospital as the current situation made the facility not easily accessible to the residents of Kumawu and the neighbouring communities.
He further appealed to the President to let the Finance Minister give clearance to the hospital to employ more health service personnel to meet the increasing demand because the current situation where internally generated funds were used to employ the services of staff was not sustainable.