Work on 37 Hospital nearing completion

Accra, Jan. 8, GNA - Defence Minister Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor on Thursday lauded the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), saying that it would alleviate the burden of huge medical expenses of the populace who he asked to register with the system.

He said the system (NHIS) was a very important and expedient one in that it would cater for the issue of cash and carry and thus save lives. Dr Kufuor was speaking to the Media after inspecting the second phase of ongoing projects at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

The inspection was to ascertain the progress and state of the projects pending its commissioning on January 24, 2004 by President John Agyekum Kufuor and the German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder.

Dr Kufuor said the hospital, which would soon be part of the training facility for the Postgraduate Medical College, was a very important national health facility, which has been upgraded with many outstations for most of the branches of medicine to meet international standards.

He said the vision of the Ministry of Defence to make the 37 Hospital the best medical institution in the West Africa Sub-Region as well as a centre of excellence so that medical situations that have to be referred to European specialist hospitals could be done in Ghana. Dr Kufuor said there would be a third phase that would involve the construction of a national health and accident centre, a maternity block, two theatres and an emergency unit for children. He said the standards at the hospital would be maintained for Ghanaians to benefit from it.

The new wing of the hospital, which includes the Public Health, Ophthalmology, Medical, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dispensary, Pathology, Physiotherapy and Dental Departments as well as 32 consultant offices have been equipped with the state-of-the-art medical equipment from Germany.

Other facilities in the new blocks include the intensive care and burns unit, a records department that can handle about 175,000 files and a polyclinic. Germany provided 20 million dollars for the second phase of the project.

The first phase which was carried out the by the previous Government was also funded by a German grant of 18 million dollars. It included the rehabilitation of the Mortuary, Radiology Department, the construction of wards for officers and other ranks, the women's ward and the medical reception centre.

The rehabilitation of the 37 Military Hospital started in the 1990s by the past government. In February 2002 the second phase of the project began.