The new Eastern Regional Hospital project in Koforidua is facing a setback as contractors, Ellipse Projects and Trillium, have abandoned the construction site due to nonpayment by the government.

Financial challenges, including delayed payments for work and other agenda 111 projects, are the cause of the financial predicament of the construction company.

Subcontractors such as Lambert Electricals and Glow Engineering, responsible for electrical installations and plastering, respectively, have ceased their activities at the site

Workers have been laid off until work resumes.

The first phase of the 285 out of 600-bed capacity new Eastern Regional Hospital project’s completion, initially set for the end of December this year, has been at a standstill at around 30% since June.

The Medical Director of Eastern Regional Hospital, Dr. Arko Akoto Ampaw recently appealed for government intervention to ensure the timely completion of the new hospital project for improved healthcare delivery.

“I want to remind the regional minister, the minister of health, and the director-general of the stalled project of the Eastern Regional Hospital that is under construction, we were expecting that by the end of the year, we would have moved into that new structure, but work has stalled,” he said.

“We ask that work begins so that we can deliver quality healthcare, as a mark of what we have always had in the Eastern Regional Hospital,” he noted

President Akufo-Addo, who initiated the project in July 2020, highlighted secured funding of €70 million from Standard Chartered Bank, UK, with €7,920,000.00 credit guarantee support from the United Kingdom Export Financing (UKEF).

The first phase of the project was expected to be completed in 36 months.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “Phase one of this new hospital project will involve the construction of a two hundred and eighty-five (285) bed facility, out of the total capacity of six hundred (600) beds. Once fully completed, it will be fitted with the requisite teaching and learning facilities, and will position the Eastern Region on the right side of the healthcare map of our country.”