The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has observed that some Agenda 111 hospital projects inaugurated by the erstwhile government are still under construction, emphasising that none of the 111 facilities is completed at the moment.

He said upon inspection, it was evident that construction was still ongoing; hence, the hospitals were not yet operational although they had been inaugurated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo before he left office.

During an inspection tour of the projects at the Atwima Kwanwoma Municipal Hospital in Trede in the Ashanti Region yesterday, Mr Akandoh said President John Dramani Mahama had tasked him to work out the completion of the projects.

“I have been directed by the President to transfer the Agenda 111 hospitals from the presidency to the Ministry of Health, and also to oversee their completion.

“Where I am standing is one of the hospitals, and when it comes to hospitals, it is not just about the building alone but also the necessary facilities and staff that make up a functional hospital.

“Upon our inspection, we cannot call this place a hospital because construction is still ongoing.

“Based on the briefing I received from the same consultant employed by the previous government, none of the hospitals have been completed,” the Health Minister said.

Indeed, President Mahama, last Thursday, disclosed in the State of the Nation Address that the Akufo-Addo government had completed none of the Agenda 111 projects it started, with the only one near completion yet to be operational.

The President further criticised the decision of the previous government to site hospitals at places where mission hospitals existed.

He pointed out that rather than starting the construction of new facilities, the Akufo-Addo administration should have collaborated with faith-based organisations to make their existing health facilities better.

The President indicated that one of the solutions to completing the projects would be for faith-based organisations to take up some of them.

He said the missions could take some of the uncompleted Agenda 111 projects, complete them and manage them.

About Agenda 111

Former President Nana Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of the facilities on August 17, 2021, with a promise to complete the work within 18 months.

One of the rooms of the Agenda 111 project

The plan to construct the hos­pitals was first announced in the eighth COVID-19 national address on April 26, 2020, by the former President months after the COVID-19 pan­demic hit Ghana.

It was initially an “Agenda 88” initiative, but the government later revised it to “Agenda 111”.

The 23 additional facilities included 13 district hospitals.

Beneficiary regions and a respec­tive breakdown of the distribution are 10 in Ashanti; nine in Volta; eight in Eastern; seven each in Greater Accra and Upper East; five each in Oti, Upper West, Bono and Western North; three in Savannah, and two each in Bono East and North East.

It also made provision for a region­al hospital each in Oti, Bono, Bono East, Savannah, North East and Western North; two specialised hospitals in the middle and northern belts, a regional hospital in the Western Region, and renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.