Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has lamented the deteriorating state of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, popularly known as Ridge Hospital.
According to him, the hospital, which was upgraded into a state-of-the-art facility during the first term of President John Dramani Mahama, has lost its glory.
Speaking to the media after visiting the hospital on Friday, April 11, the Minister said several critical equipment and facilities are in poor condition.
“I must be very honest with you, this is not the Ridge Hospital we handed over to the former administration. This is not the Ridge Hospital we were all boasting of. This is not the Ridge we made so much noise about, and we must hold back. The MRI is not working. The CT scan is not working,” he said.
He further questioned the notion that government must always maintain or replace hospital equipment, even when hospitals are making revenues from those equipment.
“I’m yet to understand why government will equip a hospital with medical equipment, hospitals will run these equipment—often for a fee—and yet, when the equipment become obsolete, they still expect government to come back and maintain or replace them.
“I think that must also change. This is not about Ridge alone. It cuts across every part of this country, and that has to change,” the Minister stated.
His visit follows report by ModernGhana News, which exposes key figures at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH) also known as Ridge Hospital of gross mismanagement, corruption, and procurement breaches.
The report sheds light on what appears to be a well-coordinated scheme involving hospital officials, past government appointees, and figures at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) headquarters.
According to the report, millions of cedis have been siphoned through fraudulent contracts, depriving the hospital of much-needed resources and compromising patient care.
