LEKMA Hospital brings healthcare closer to the people

Dr Juliana Ameh, Medical Superintendent of the Ghana-China Friendship Hospital, has commended China for its support in the construction of the hospital and its willingness to further collaborate with the authorities.

She said the construction of the hospital, also known as the Ledzokuku- Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) Hospital, has provided more than 265,000 inhabitants of the municipality a place to access medical care.

The facility also serves people from other parts of Accra.

Speaking to journalists during a media tour of the facility organised by the Chinese Consulate to highlight some Chinese sponsored projects in the country over the 55 years of bilateral relations, she said the hospital is running smoothly.

However, it needs accommodation for its staff who come from various parts of the city to work.

She said the long travel to the hospital sometimes cause delays in service delivery at the hospital and called on government to handover a parcel of land around the hospital, where flats could be built to accommodate the staff.

She said the China has expressed its readiness to support the project.

The 100-bed facility was constructed in 2010 at a cost of $7.28 million. The hospital has since added 10 more beds. The construction was undertaken by China Geo Engineering Corporation (CGC) and completed within 16 months.

Dr Ameh said the hospital is a multi-purpose general hospital with several departments offering various medical services to patients including a surgical theatre, eye nose and throat, scanning services, laboratory and radiological facilities.

She said the LEKMA Hospital is the first Ghana health service facility to have a computerised tomography scanning machine in Accra.

It also has specialist departments with nine specialist doctors including dentists, physiologists, dermatologists, gynaecologists, as well as pediatricians.

The hospital also operates a 24 – hour maternal unit which delivered about 2000 babies last year and recently added a children’s emergency wing to its operations.

Mr Fred Agama, an Engineer with CGC, said the company has teams who conduct periodic checks on the facility to identified areas for structural maintenance works, such as minor cracks, painting, plumbing, or tiling problems or problems with the toilet facilities.

He noted that in 2013, the company has constructed a curtain wall for the hospital to prevent dust from the road construction from entering the surgical ward.