The 60-bed capacity Nsawkaw District Hospital in the Brong Ahafo Region currently under construction is scheduled to be completed in October this year.

It is being financed by Euroget De Invest, an Egyptian civil engineering and building construction firm, which is the main contractor, with David Walter Limited and China Railway Number Five, a Ghanaian and Chinese building construction companies respectively, as the sub-contractors.

The project, now 60 per cent complete, is valued at about 32 million dollars, a loan to Ghana Government payable in 18 years. The resident site engineer, Mr Mahmoud Omran, disclosed this when he conducted officials of the company and the media round the site to ascertain the progress of work.

Mr Omran said the hospital, occupying a space of 122,000 metre-square land, comprised the Out-Patients Department, pharmacy, and administration blocks one and two. Other departments and units are the radiology, the surgical suite, emergency, medical services, maternity and children’s wards, obstetrics and gynaecology, staff housing consisting of 15 apartments, maintenance department and mortuary.

Mr Omran said: “The hospital is designed to be a disabled friendly facility” to make it easier for physically-challenged persons to access medical services.

He said three mechanised boreholes would be constructed to store water in a 250 cubic-metre capacity tank to ensure constant supply to the hospital. Mr Baba Anaba, the Administrative Manager of Euroget Group, Ghana, who led the team, described the progress of work as “very impressive.”

Mr Anaba said the work involved building of physical structures as well as provision of equipment, plant and machinery to be fitted before handing it over to the Government.

He said whilst some of the items were on the sea yet to arrive, others had arrived to be cleared and conveyed to the site for installation.

Mr Anaba said the company was also financing and executing eight of such hospitals in the country and mentioned the 500-bed military hospital at Afari near Kumasi and the 250-bed Kumasi Regional Hospital at Sawiah in the Bosomtwe District.

He said the other 60-bed capacity district hospitals were at Konongo and Tepa in the Ashanti Region, Twifo-Praso in the Central Region and Salaga in the Northern Region.

The rest are the 100-bed Madina District Hospital in the Greater Accra Region and the 160-bed Wa Regional Hospital.