Operationalising ‘Abandoned’ Ofankor Health Centre to Cost GH¢1.2m

The Ga West Municipal Assembly is spending some 1.2 million Ghana cedis to operationalize the abandoned Ofankor Health Centre.

The health centre which was constructed two years ago by the government with funding from the African Development Bank has been abandoned.

It is one of over 16 hospitals that have been abandoned nationwide.

Speaking to Citi News, the Ga West Municipal Chief executive, Clement Nii Lamptey Wilkinson, said the Ofankor Health Centre would be operational by the middle of next month.

We are putting some finishes touches inside of the facility. We plan to do that by the end of this month, but looking at things, by the middle of July, we can open it for the community to use. The money that we have to spend on what we are doing is about GHc1.2 million,” he added.

The health facility is expected to serve residents of Asofa, Ofankor, Omanjo, Dwenewoho, Mensah Addo, Parts of Sowutuom and some other communities within the Ga West Municipality.

Project abandoned due to inadequate equipment

Inusah Fuseini, the former minister under whose supervision the CHPS compound at Ofankor was started, had earlier said operationalising the facility delayed because of inadequate medical facilities.

According to him, the project funded by the African Development Bank was supposed to be stocked with equipment by the Ministry of Health.

Mr Fuseini said although the government has stocked the facility, he has information that the facility is not operational because the equipment is not enough.

“The Ministry of Health was contacted, I understand they’ve provided some equipment, but the equipment is not enough to operationalise the hospital, and that is why it is under lock and key.  The health authorities are of the view that the equipment is not enough to be operational as a health post,” he added in an interview in January 2018.

Abandoned health facilities 

The Ofankor health facility is part of numerous health facilities that although have been completed have not been functioning.

They include CHPS compounds at Tetegu and Teshie.

Citi FM subsequently put pressure on the government to have such facilities as operationalised.

Due to Citi FM‘s advocacy, the government recently decided to operationalise the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre which hitherto had been abandoned because of a tussle between government and management of the school over who is supposed to manage the facility.