The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz bin Salih has announced that the newly constructed Upper West Regional hospital will be commissioned on August 18, 2019.
The Minister announced this at Issa during Daffiama Busie Issa district’s turn of the “meet the press” series.
He said the opening of the facility will be done by the President during his “annual regional tour “ of the Upper West region which will start on August 17, 2019.
He also said a total of 170 nurses and other critical staff including seven resident doctors have been posted to the hospital.
The commissioning of the 160-bed-capacity Upper West regional hospital has delayed due to what onlookers describe as political interference.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress had indicated in December 2016 that the facility was ready and would be handed over by February 2017.
However, upon assumption of office, the governing New Patriotic Party NPP rescheduled the commissioning date due to “some work” that needed to be carried out at the facility.
Government officials promised but missed the opening of the hospital a couple of times.
However, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih allayed the fears of journalists and residents in the region assuring that “all the equipment that are needed have all been installed at the facility with three years warranty. The engineers are going to be available to address all technical challenges throughout the warranty period “.
The Minister thanked residents in the region for their resilience and cooperation with government.
The opening of the Eurojet funded regional hospital is expected to bring relief to close to one million residents of the Upper West region who depend largely on other regions in times of emergencies due to lack of a befitting regional hospital.
