La General Hospital will be built despite delays – Health Ministry

The Ministry of Health says the La General Hospital will be constructed despite some bottlenecks in the process.

The Ministry has promised to ensure that the project is started and completed.

In July 2020, the facility was demolished after the hospital’s administration in 2015 reported of severe structural problems.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on August 10, 2020, cut the sod for the commencement of construction of the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project.

The delay in constructing the project has outraged residents, the Member of Parliament for La Dadekotpon, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah among others.

But the Public Relations Officer for the Health Ministry, Isaac Baah Ofei says government is making frantic efforts to get the hospital built.

“Government is seriously working within timelines. Government 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.”

The hospital, when completed, will provide much more health services to the people of La and surrounding communities.

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 €68 million with an insurance cover of €3,860,349.18.

The project will be undertaken by a Chinese company, Poly Changda.

Upon completion, it will be transformed into a 160-bed facility and will be 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.

The facility, which was formerly known as the La Polyclinic, was established in the early 1960s.

It mainly serves residents of La, Osu, Teshie, Nungua and its surrounding areas with their healthcare needs.