Abandoned 44-yr-old KATH maternity block to be demolished after Akufo-Addo cut sod for rehabilitation

A 44-year-old abandoned maternity block at the Komfo Anokye Hospital is set to be demolished to pave way for construction of a new building.

This follows a test report from Contracta, a construction firm responsible for the completion of the project saying the structure must be pulled down.

According to the Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah, the report indicated that there is a possibility that the structure will collapse in future hence the need for it to be pulled down.

Simon Osei-Mensa adds that a stakeholder’s consultation has been launched on how best to bring the structure down without necessarily causing avoidable nuisance to people who live around the structure.

“Currently we have launched stakeholder’s consultation on how best to bring the structure down without necessarily causing avoidable nuisance to people who live around the structure. I mean the Armed forces basic school, the military, KATH staff and patients on admission,” he said.

He added, “based on the report available to me, the building will collapse in future if they ignore technical advice from the construction firm. Because of the weak nature of the building as at now,’’ according to starrnews.

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 15th May, 2020, cut the sod for the reactivation of work for the construction of the forty-four (44) year old Maternity and Children’s Block of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The project, which is being funded by German Bank, Deutsche Bank, will cost €155 million, and is expected to be completed within 36 months, with the construction being undertaken by Contracta.

Once completed, President Akufo-Addo stated that the Maternity and Children’s Block will be a state-of-the-art, modern health edifice, with paediatrics, gynaecology and obstetrics units.

“It will serve as a referral centre for twelve (12) of the sixteen (16) regions of our country. It will be a seven hundred and fifty (750)-bed building, with outpatient areas for adults and children, and it will have ten (10) operating theatres and diagnostic rooms, fully equipped with X-Ray, ultrasound, and mammography facilities,” he said.

The President continued, “It will house an intensive care unit, a high dependency unit, isolation rooms and student lecture halls, with the capacity to provide catering services for staff, patients and students”.

However, ten months after the sod cutting, the government has received structural integrity test report from Contracta, a construction firm responsible for the completion of the project saying the structure must be pulled down.