Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Health Minister
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, says the government’s infrastructural development within the country’s healthcare delivery system is unprecedented.
Speaking at the commissioning of phase two of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) in Legon, he listed some hospitals that were started and completed by the New Patriotic Party-led government.
“The government is not resting on its oars. We have come a long way in building our healthcare infrastructure through successive governments, but the gap remains huge and needs to be filled.
“One of the bold decisions of the government in addressing the infrastructure gap is by implementing across the board, 35 ongoing health facilities, besides the Agenda 111 project,” he said.
Mr Agyemang-Manu said that the completion of phase two of the UGMC reflects the government’s resolve to provide functional health facilities for the citizenry.
“The citizenry and the management of this facility have a sacred duty to ensure that these facilities are used and maintained properly. With these unprecedented investments by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the NPP government, we will complete the good works that have started for mother Ghana and also initiate more viable projects to cover the length and breadth of our country,” the Minister said.
Three focal areas
In his contribution, UGMC chief executive officer, Dr Darius Osei, said that the second phase of UGMC has three main focal areas namely a 1,000-bed clinical services section, the biggest medical training and simulation centre in West Africa, and a medical and scientific research centre that will serve as a central hub for local and international research.
He also indicated that the total staff strength was 127 in 2018. By 2019, it had risen to 315, 601 in 2020 and 809 in 2021. Currently, UGMC, he said has a staff strength of 1,031.
They are made up of seven consultants, 45 specialists/senior specialists, 98 medical officers, 496 nurses/midwives, 188 other clinical personnel, 178 support staff, and 19 management staff.
The Clinical Services Section (CSS) houses the biggest Intensive Care Unit in Ghana (a 16-bed Intensive Care Unit) as well as the second biggest Cardiothoracic Centre in the country.
The CSS will have consultants, specialists, and sub-specialists with expertise in areas such as Sleep Medicine, Sex Dysfunction, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Urology, Endoscopy, Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT, Dental and Ophthalmology for the benefit of the public.
The Imaging Department of the Centre will also offer a 24-hour service and has a Cath Lab, a fluoroscopy machine, an MRI, a CT scan, a mammography machine among others to enable the public to access these medical imaging services without delays.
The second of the three parts of the UGMC phase two, the Medical Training and Simulation Centre (MTSC), is well equipped to offer health and non-health workers training involving patient simulation, simulated clinical environments, simulated virtual procedure stations, and simulated standardized patients.
Some of the training programmes that will be organised by the MTSC will include Basic Life Support (CPR) which could help save lives by equipping the public with the basic skills needed to quickly resuscitate individuals whose hearts stop suddenly or go into cardiac arrest before health professionals arrive at the scene.
The last section, the Medical and Scientific Research Centre (MSRC), will focus on epidemiology/clinical trials, cardiovascular genetics, maternal foetal medicine, regenerative medicine, transplant medicine, infectious diseases, and big data science.
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