UGMC to be registered and operated as private health facility

The ultra-modern University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) in Accra is to be registered and run as a private company to ensure its sustainability, authorities have told 3news.com

Although the government earlier said the facility will be run as a public institution, the authorities say plans are far advanced in registering the referral health facility as a private company.

“The interim management committee, the Ministry of Health, and the Attorney General’s Department is working on the status of the facility, Interim Director of Administration Fred Effah- Yeboah said

“Eventually, this facility will run as a purely private facility for the sake of sustainability such that there will be much seriousness in its management and activities,” he explained.

He said considering how the facility is configured, there should be some form of efficiency in delivery and management.

“And so when it’s actually registered as a private company, a board will be put in place, which the process is currently ongoing” he disclosed.



After several months of delay and controversy over the right of management of the UGMC, the facility was opened to the public on Wednesday, July 18, 2018.

It was made clear by the interim managers that the facility would not operate as basic healthcare centre where patients can walk in but will rather receive special referral cases only.

Operations commenced with the provision of free services for two weeks.



Free healthcare as UGMC opens

Almost a month on, authorities say they have received six referral cases, indicating that a number of people and health facilities in the country still do not understand the operations of the UGMC.

‘‘We have seen a patient who came from Nkawkaw who needed a general check-up, but we still stick to our policy of advance referral facility where we will not allow just walk-in and we will maintain that status for Ghanaians,” Mr. Effah-Yeboah emphasized.



“Our major challenge is that it appears the public and other health facilities have not caught the concept of the facility,” he added

He explained that the six referrals they received “needed diverse attention,” adding for some of them, they also had to refer.

The administrative unit, the Out Patient Department, the laboratory and the pharmacy, as well as the clinical units of the hospital, are currently fully operational with two ambulances to complement it.



Meanwhile, the interim management committee is hopeful phase one and two of the hospital should be fully operational in the next six months.