The Minister-designate for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr. Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, has expressed his intentions to advocate for the completion of the Agenda 111 Hospitals project.
The Agenda 111 project, initiated by the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government, aimed at establishing 101 district hospitals, seven regional hospitals, two specialized psychiatric hospitals and the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
The initiative was birthed at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 to provide a holistic standardized health infrastructure development in the country. The government promised to complete the project in 6 months.
However, after over 3 years, the former President, in his final address on the State in the House of Parliament, indicated that only three of the hospitals were completed.
During the vetting of the Minister-designate Thursday, January 30, 2025, Laadi Ayii Ayamba, the Member of Parliament for Pusiga, asked if he would consider the completion of the project to complement the government’s 24-hour economy by employing the backlog of health workers who are staying at home.
In her address, she said “one of the areas that our opponents hyped and spoke about so much was Agenda 111 which is supposed to be dealing with hospitals. We have a lot of backlog of nurses and doctors waiting and we have so many hospitals running with either two or three doctors.”
She explained further that Ghana’s “CHPS Compounds that have more or less turned into clinics, health posts need more nurses” complaining about the lack of doctors and nurses to attend to people when they visit the hospital.
“You go to a hospital and then you’re told that the doctor just closed so you have to wait for 8 hours. He will be coming tomorrow. Under the 24-hour economy, although the NPP hyped Agenda 111 and the former President told us in his [last] State of the Nation Address (SoNA) that they were able to complete only three.
“Would you consider bringing them on board in ensuring that the 24-hour economy will make you bring in all the nurses and doctors and staff that are needed, and that you’ll divide the long hours being spent by these health staff to about maybe 8 hours each, so that they run shift to be able to attend to our people,” she lamented further and asked.
In his response, Dr. Pelpuo said “Mr. Chairman, yes, I will consider so, given the fact that we have a responsibility to create jobs and to employ our young people in these areas.”
Mahama doubts Akufo-Addo can complete 10 out of Agenda 111 hospitals project