Ridge Hospital to be pulled down

Medical Director of the Ridge Hospital Dr Emmanuel Obeng-Apori has hinted that the current facility in Accra would be pulled down and converted into a car park immediately after a new 640-bed facility being constructed is completed.

The new facility, funded by the Exim Bank and HSBC Bank of the United States of America, will serve as the Greater Accra Region Hospital.

It is expected to be completed within three years. Construction began last year.

“We want to reiterate that it is not rehabilitation,” remarked Dr Obeng Apori on Wednesday, August 13 when the Greater Accra Regional Minister and officials of the Region’s Health Directorate undertook an inspection tour of the new facility.

“It is a completely new hospital and when they finish, the old which has served us for about 85 years will be pulled down,” he noted.

The Ridge Hospital was built in 1929 to provide healthcare for British nationals during the pre-colonial era.

The 200-bed facility has since overshot its capacity as out-patient department (OPD) sees 800 cases daily. Corridors of the Hospital have been turned into wards.

Regional Minister Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo was optimistic the Hospital will be completed in time, as promised by the contractors, Bouygues Bartiment International of the United States.

The entire project, when completed, will have a school of anaesthesia, 12 theaters, 100-body capacity morgue, Imaging Department, Delivery Unit, Accident and Emergency Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.