The government will begin the construction of hospitals under the “Agenda 111 project” on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said.

The entire project includes 111 district hospitals, seven new regional hospitals, two additional mental health hospitals to be located in the middle and southern belts, and the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

At a press briefing in Accra yesterday, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the official commencement of the project would be marked with the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, observing the start of the first of the 111 health facilities at Trede in the Ashanti Region.

“The government’s Agenda 111 which aims at providing 111 district hospitals will commence on Tuesday, the 17th of August, 2021. The project will also see to the provision of two specialised hospitals, one for the middle belt and one for the southern belt. These are psychiatric hospitals and then a redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital,” the minister said.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said it had been estimated that each of the 111 district hospitals would cost approximately $17 million and should be completed 12 months from the respective dates of commencement.

The Information Minister added that so far $100 million had been released for the commencement of the project.

“The project is budgeted at nearly $17 million each of the district and specialised hospitals with funding from the Government of Ghana (GoG), with the construction of the six new regional hospitals under an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) arrangement,” he said.

Land

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said so far consultants had estimated that the architectural scope of the district hospitals would require 15 acres of land each.

He said as of now, 88 sites, made up of 15-acre lands each, had been secured to facilitate the projects.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said due diligence had been done concerning the lands such as securing the land title registration.

“Since the announcement, the Project Implementing Committee, chaired by the Chief of Staff, Mrs Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has been delivering a number of objectives which include securing the physical location of the 111 district hospitals,” he explained.

Grand vision

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the project formed part of the government’s grand vision of improving healthcare delivery, delivery of Universal Health Coverage and quality health care in the country.

He said the construction of the 111 hospitals would contribute to making the country a centre of medical excellence and a destination for medical tourism in West Africa.

“The project is expected to deepen healthcare delivery at all district levels and ensure that the Ghanaian can access high quality health care at all district levels.

It will also provide thousands of jobs for the healthcare staff to be recruited and posted to all these 111 facilities as well as their ancillary workers in these communities,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.

He added that the housing and local services associated with the projects were also expected to add a new layer to local economic activities to serve the local communities.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah called on all Ghanaians, especially the local beneficiary communities, traditional leaders, youth and all actors in the local health sector, to rally behind the agenda and give their full support as the government rolls out the project in full.

Background

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, first announced the project in April 2020 during his eighth update on COVID-19.

Presenting the 2021 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed that the government had decided to execute the initiative in two phases, with the first phase being the processes completed.

The second phase, he said, was the actual construction of 88 district hospitals.

“Mr Speaker, the government and the project coordinating team have worked tirelessly on phase one, and I am happy to report that pre-contract works have now been completed for 88 sites for the district hospitals.

“We expect to commence phase two (construction to begin) three weeks from now, from 17th August, 2021,” the Finance Minister stated.

Mr Ofori-Atta said the government had already engaged over 20 local consulting firms through a lead project consultant to provide architectural and engineering designs as well as project management support towards the execution of the project.