No Bed Syndrome: Mahama orders emergency bed expansion at four major hospitals

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to expand emergency bed capacity at four major hospitals to at least 10% of their functional bed capacity, as part of a fresh government intervention to tackle Ghana’s persistent ‘No Bed Syndrome’.

The expansion, expected to begin in 2027, will cover the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Tamale Teaching Hospital and the 37 Military Hospital. The facilities will also receive additional medical personnel, equipment, oxygen and essential supplies to ensure the new beds are fully operational.

President Mahama announced the intervention when he addressed the 68th Annual General Conference of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) at Miotso in the Greater Accra Region on Friday, November 6, 2026.

The conference was held under the theme, “The No Bed Syndrome: Reimagining a Befitting Emergency Response System for Ghana.”

Explaining the rationale behind the expansion, the President said the problem extended beyond the physical availability of hospital beds, pointing to inadequate emergency infrastructure, medical personnel, equipment and essential supplies as some of the challenges confronting healthcare facilities.

At Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, for instance, the government is targeting an increase in emergency beds from the current 65 to at least 150.

The President said the expansion of emergency departments at the four facilities would be accompanied by the resources needed to provide effective care, rather than simply adding beds without the capacity to operate them.

While the expansion works are being prepared, the Ghana Armed Forces Critical Care and Emergency Hospital has also commenced operations for civilian patients from Friday, November 6.

The facility is expected to provide additional capacity for managing emergency cases and ease pressure on existing civilian hospitals, particularly during periods of increased demand.

Digital system to tackle referral delays

Beyond expanding hospital infrastructure, President Mahama announced the piloting of an Integrated Bed Management and Referral Coordination System to improve how emergency patients are directed to hospitals.

The digital platform is designed to help hospitals and ambulance teams identify facilities with available beds and the capacity to provide the required treatment before transferring patients.

The system is expected to reduce situations where emergency patients are transported from one hospital to another because receiving facilities cannot accommodate them.

However, the President stressed that better coordination must go hand in hand with adequate emergency capacity, warning that identifying an available bed would not solve the problem if the receiving hospital lacked the personnel and equipment to treat the patient.

He also maintained that patients arriving at health facilities in critical condition must be assessed and stabilised within the facility's capacity before any onward referral is arranged.

100 doctors accept postings to underserved communities

On the distribution of healthcare professionals, President Mahama disclosed that 100 doctors had accepted postings to underserved communities as part of efforts to address the unequal distribution of medical personnel across the country.

He said government was also working towards regular annual recruitment of health professionals, alongside financial and non-financial incentives to encourage doctors and other medical workers to accept and remain in postings outside major urban centres.

The President further announced plans to procure 100 new ambulances and acquire spare parts to repair another 100 grounded vehicles belonging to the National Ambulance Service.

The intervention is expected to strengthen emergency transportation and improve the ability of ambulance teams to respond to medical emergencies across the country.

He urged the Ghana Medical Association to provide practical recommendations on emergency healthcare delivery, workforce distribution and broader health sector reforms.

President Mahama said the country needed an emergency response system that ensured patients received timely medical attention instead of leaving them and their families to navigate a fragmented referral system during critical moments.

The conference brought together Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, traditional leaders, chief executives of health agencies, representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund and other stakeholders in the health sector.

EA