Sunday Casper Kampoli, the Deputy Upper East Regional Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the government to prioritize the completion of the Upper East Regional Hospital project to help fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the region.

The call from the NDC executive comes a day after President Akufo Addo, in his 8th address to the nation on COVID-19 on Sunday, announced plans by his government to construct 88 new ultra-modern hospitals throughout Ghana to support the country’s healthcare system to better fight the spread of the (COVID-19).

In his address, the President stated that seven of the hospitals would be built in the Upper East Region to beef up healthcare delivery in the face of deadly viral disease.

“There are eighty-eight (88) districts in our country without district hospitals; we have six (6) new regions without regional hospitals; we do not have 5 infectious disease control centres dotted across the country; and we do not have enough testing and isolation centres for diseases like COVD-19. We must do something urgently about this.

That is why Government has decided to undertake a major investment in our healthcare infrastructure, the largest in our history. We will, this year, begin constructing eighty-eight (88) hospitals in the districts without hospitals.

It will mean ten (10) in Ashanti, nine (9) in Volta, nine (9) in Central, eight (8) in Eastern, seven (7) in Greater Accra, seven (7) in Upper East, five (5) in Northern, five (5) in Oti, five (5) in Upper West, five (5) in Bono, four (4) in Western North, four (4) in Western, three (3) in Ahafo, three (3) in Savannah, two (2) in Bono East, and two (2) in North East Regions”. The President said.

However, according to Mr. Kampoli in a statement he released, the construction of the seven hospitals in the region cannot equal the Regional Hospital started by the erstwhile Mahama administration, stressing the hospital would better serve the health needs of the people in this difficult time if government pays attention to its completing, resourcing and its operationalization.

He accused the government of diverting the $20million loan from the Saudi Fund unanimously by Parliament for the second phase of the Upper East Regional Hospital.