Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has promised to assist in resolving issues delaying the opening of the Sewua Hospital.
The hospital, designed to be a regional facility in the Ashanti Region, has faced challenges such as electricity supply and poor road networks.
During his visit, Otumfuo engaged with contractors and health officials to tackle these problems. Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, the Ashanti regional director of the Ghana Health Service, confirmed Otumfuo’s commitment to hasten the hospital’s operationalization.
“He [the King] was a bit surprised that we are still waiting so he has assured us that he will talk to the necessary authorities just to make sure that actions are expedited so that whatever is delaying the process can be done as quickly as possible. You know Komfo Anokye is undergoing renovation and that’s going to put a lot of constraints on health care delivery in the Ashanti region so the earlier we get this, the better so that we can start operating.”
Dr. Tinkorang added “We need a transformer that can power all the machines and the current electricity that we have would not be enough to power the machines, so we need a new machine. Fortunately, ECG has connected to the main line and given us two transformers, all that we need to do now is to connect to the main lines and then we can test-run the machines, train the staff and open the facility.
“Also, the road needs to be put in shape. I know it has been given to a contractor, but we need expedited actions on it so that we can get all these facilities completed. It is a 290-bed hospital and that’s the regional hospital for the Ashanti region.”
Otumfuo, having previously led a fundraising initiative for the renovation of key blocks at KATH, also inspected the progress of the ongoing works. The monarch stressed the importance of completing the renovations promptly to enhance the functionality of the teaching hospital. Samuel Adu Boakye, Chairman of the ‘Heal Komfo Anokye Project’, provides updates on the ongoing works.
“The system that is put in place to ensure that Komfo Anokye is not going to leak any further when it rains. One of the major problems of Komfo Anokye was the fact that if it rains today, for two weeks, some of the walls will be leaking. We are privileged and happy to mention that in the last rains, we have experienced not even one leakage. The king is very pleased.
“The progress of work so far, because of the space concerns the hospital is still in session so what is happening is that we will be doing it in phases. So currently the A4 and A5 demolition has happened, and the things have almost arrived, as they arrive, we will be making sure that just a matter of fixing those fixtures that we have imported to be able to do this. We have just started the in-house, for the roof we are 100%, we have just inspected the full house. We would be able to say that maybe just about 10% of the in-house is done.”
The Asantehene ended his inspection at the construction of the Baby and Mother Unit at the Manhyia Hospital.
Reporting By Jonathan Ofori, Asaase Newsroom, Kumasi
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