The 500-bed Afari Military Hospital in the Ashanti Region has been left to deteriorate while patients in need of emergency care are being stranded with no alternative facility to attend to them.

The situation follows the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s (KATH) announcement of the suspension of its Accident and Emergency Centre.

KATH, the largest referral hospital serving over 10 regions in the northern and middle parts of the country, took the decision due to severe overcrowding.

Its emergency unit is currently accommodating over 100 patients, far exceeding its 37-bed capacity.

OTEC News reporter Maame Akua Asarebea visited the Afari Military Hospital on Wednesday and returned with distressing findings.

No work was ongoing at the facility to prepare it for public use, despite its potential to ease pressure on KATH.

Inside the facility, beds and medical equipment installed in the wards are gathering dust. Large sections of the compound have been overtaken by weeds, leaving the hospital bushy and unkempt months after completion.

A major factor in the delays was the lack of a dedicated power supply to ensure stable electricity for the facility. Although that issue has since been addressed, along with the installation of a water treatment plant, the infrastructure is now also overrun by weeds.

The 500-bed Afari Military Hospital, which could absorb some of KATH’s overflow, remains stuck in limbo.

Completion and operational deadlines have been repeatedly missed, leaving residents and emergency cases with nowhere to turn.

Health experts warn that keeping the facility closed while KATH turns away emergency cases poses a serious risk to lives.

Residents are now appealing to government and the Ministry of Health to urgently operationalise the hospital to save lives and reduce pressure on the overstretched referral system.