Ms Sherry Ayittey, the Health Minister, has pledged the government’s determination to complete the 960-bed capacity Maternity and Children’s Block at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) by the end of the year.

The project which started in the 1970s is meant to assist in providing adequate space to enhance maternal and child health care.

The Minister, who was at the facility as part of her tour of the major hospitals to assess how they were coping with the nationwide Doctor’s strike, said the government would team up with the private sector to finish the construction works.

About US$40 million would be required to complete and fully equip the block and this would be funded under a public-private partnership arrangement, to be soon put before parliament for approval.

Ms Ayittey said everything would also be done to upgrade facilities at KATH to make it a world class teaching and specialised hospital due to its geographical location - serving the population of as many as eight regions and others from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) sub-region.

Again, the government would work hard to improve the “doctor-patient ratio” and get some of them to serve in the districts.

The Minister said she would take up the issue of smoke nuisance hindering the operation of the Ultra Modern Eye Centre built for the hospital with the military hierarchy.

She had earlier inspected the oxygen plants, the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Centre, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Centre, Paediatric Emergency Unit (PEU) and the Mother and Baby Unit (MBU).

Professor Ohene Adjei, Chief Executive of KATH appealed to the government to give every support for the successful completion of the Maternity and Children’s block.