Work on Ghana's first Infectious Disease Isolation and Treatment Facility is expected to be completed by the middle of June this year, Managing Trustee of the COVID-19 Private Sector Fund, Senyo Hosi, has said.
The 100-bed facility, which is located at the Ga East Municipal Hospital is being built under the auspices of the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund and in collaboration with the Engineering Division of the Ghana Armed Forces forms part of a national effort to curb the spread of Coronavirus and treat critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb on Monday, May 18, 2020 Managing Trustee of the fund explained the multi-purpose facility which was initially slated to be completed by 6 weeks has had to delay for some two weeks as a result of some redesigning of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“Quite some work has gone on but we’ve lost effectively about two weeks as a result of some redesigning because the initial model for the treatment facility did not anticipate a very well equipped modern intensive care unit which we’ve now modified to meet the required standards so that has actually had to expand the initial scope of completion,” Senyo Hosi explained.
Despite ongoing efforts to still meet the required initial timeline of completion, Mr. Senyo Hosi is optimistic the 100-bed infectious disease isolation and treatment facility will be well placed to deliver its intended objective.
“Worst case scenario, we should be looking at another four weeks beyond our initial six weeks so probably a maximum of 10 weeks to recover the lost weeks and we’re looking for an additional two weeks to conduct a test run on the equipments and facilities to be rolled in. With God being so good to the country, we’ve not had an overrun of our hospitals but despite that, we still need to prepare for that period and this project is well placed to deliver that support.”
He adds GH¢7 million is needed in donations to complete the 100-bed infectious disease isolation and treatment facility.
Additionally, the entire project is anticipated to cost about US$4.5 million when completed.
The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund is an initiative that seeks to raise a minimum of GH¢100 million by a number of private businesses drawn from diverse sectors in the country to support government’s efforts in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.