Agenda 111 hospital project kicks off at Yagaba

Government has cut sod to roll out one of the ambitious Agenda 111 district hospital projects at Yagaba, in the Mamprugu Moaduri District of the North East Region, as part of its vision of improving healthcare delivery and ensuring universal health coverage and quality health care in the country.

The project is expected to be completed in 2023 by Mawums Company Limited. The project, when completed, will be the first of its kind in the district. It will also deepen healthcare delivery in all the target districts.

It will have various facilities, including physiotherapy department, female medical/surgical ward, male and female wards, laboratory, administration, public health department, pediatric ward, pharmacy unity, and other auxiliaries.

Speaking at the sod-cutting event, the North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, urged the construction company to do a professional work and strive to complete the project on time.

“Based on your commitment and track record over the years, there are several other contractors who expressed interest among the lot, but if Mawums Company has been chosen to do the work, it is because of your track record,” he noted.

In response, the project manager, Fredrick Acquah, promised to do a good job.

“We are telling the community and entire Ghana that we are going to finish at the time expected to give you quality and make sure that everything is according to the specifications as prescribed in the contract,” he said.

For his part, the DCE for the area, Abu Adams, thanked the President for the project, saying “the hospital, when completed, will go a long way to mitigate the referral cases in the district”.

“You can imagine a situation where complicated cases are referred to Fumbisi, Walewale, and even the process of transporting the person to the nearest hospital for attention…sometimes it complicates the matter, so it is a timely intervention of the President,” Mr Adams pointed out.

Agenda 111

The government began the construction of hospitals under the “Agenda 111 project” on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. The project consists of 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.

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.