Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says the La General Hospital project is progressing steadily, with completion expected by the end of 2027.
The project, which is intended to restore and expand healthcare services for residents of La and surrounding communities, has faced delays, raising concerns about when the facility will be ready for use.
During a visit to the project site on Thursday, October 29, 2026, to assess progress, the Minister said there were no current payment delays or major challenges holding back construction.
“This is quite an impressive development, but they can speed up so that we can beat the deadline. As far as I recall, they have just brought their last IPCs. The last but one IPC has been paid, and they’ve just brought another one. We have worked on it, we’ve pushed it through Finance, so they cannot cite delay of payment as an excuse for any suspension or any delay,” he said.
According to him, about 40 per cent payment for the project has already been made.
“The whole project is 50 million euros and we’ve paid about 15 million euros. It includes the hospital equipment and so now they are at the civil end. When they finish, then they will do the installation and that’s where we also pay as and when they install. The completion date we are looking at is by the end of 2027,” he said.
The Minister also noted that lessons from Ghana’s persistent no-bed syndrome and challenges with emergency care will ensure that the project’s emergency unit remains a priority.
“We learn from experience. Going forward, we correct what we have come to meet. We have all realised that from time to time, some facilities turn patients away because they don’t have beds. And when they say beds, we are talking about the emergency beds. And we realise that a facility such as Korle Bu, for example, is more than a thousand-bed capacity, but the emergency is around 65-bed capacity. So, we thought that maybe it should be a minimum of around 10 per cent.
If you do 10 per cent, you should have about 100-bed capacity at the emergency. So going forward, we have to look at that proportion very well, because the population is actually increasing,” he explained.
The Project Manager, Richard Dadey, acknowledged the delays but maintained that construction is now gathering pace.
“The project is late because there were some issues; some were technical and some had to do with the cash flow, but they’ve been largely resolved now, so the contractor is almost back on track. Now we’re going to have a couple of technical meetings and contractual meetings, so it’s after that that we can give you a definite date of completion, but as of now, let’s just say they are getting back on track,” he said.
He added that the project is 35 per cent complete, with 65 per cent more work to be done.
“Let’s say the overall percentage is just around 35 per cent overall, but we break it down into structural works, architectural finishing works, equipment installation. So, if we break it down, then we still see that some 65 per cent more work has to be done, yes, including equipment, which is procuring and installation of equipment,” he stated.
By Samuel Yeboah Adams
