The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo has formally inaugurated the conversion of the Sunyani Regional Hospital into a Teaching Hospital after Cabinet approved the Memorandum for the conversion at its forty-fifth meeting held on Friday 24th February, 2023.
The Minister for Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyemang Manu on behalf of the President launched the conversion in a unique and historic occasion in Sunyani. In a speech read on his behalf, the President indicated that the inauguration of Sunyani Teaching Hospital will not only enable the hospital to provide tertiary healthcare delivery but will also offer expanded undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities for doctors and other health professionals from across and beyond the region.
“By establishing the Sunyani Teaching Hospital, we have laid the groundwork for an influx of medical specialists and other healthcare professionals into the region to improve health outcomes”, he reiterated.
“My government is also working assiduously to develop a 60-bed capacity Infectious disease center at the Sunyani Teaching Hospital to bolster our public health capacity to deal with infectious disease outbreaks efficiently and ensure that Ghana is better prepared to respond to future epidemics”.
“In addition to these, my government has also completed 19 health facilities in the Bono Region, a 60-bed hospital in the Tain District, the Benkasa Health center in Berekum West District and 17 Community-based Health Planning Service (CHPs) compound with staff accommodation”, the President disclosed.
The Bono Regional Minister, Hon. Justina Owusu-Banahene in her address, underscored that the initiative signified a new chapter with wreaths of seamless opportunity for advancement for medical knowledge and health science, with corresponding social and economic growth for resilient community.
She added that the collaboration between the academia in medical sciences and professional healthcare providers would turn the Sunyani Teaching hospital into a center of excellence in medical research and education to incubate useful knowledge and skill development in the healthcare delivery.
Dr. Cardinal Newton, the Medical Director of the Sunyani Regional hospital bringing to the fore some achievement made in their quest to saving lives over the past few years, said the hospital collaborated with the Ghana Health Service and NGO’s specifically, Kybele and Path, to expand and equip its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with modern life-saving equipment. “In collaboration with Young President Organisation, also an NGO, we have been able to establish an ultra-modern Paediatric Emergency Unit (PEU) which has significantly contributed to the reduction in neonatal and paediatric mortalities.”
According to him, the hospital used its limited internally generated fund to undertake a complete renovation of the emergency unit to handle Medical, Surgical, Obstetrics and Paediatric Emergencies. “Retooling the Emergency unit with modern life-saving equipment has brought about a reduction of mortalities from accidents and emergencies by 30%.” He stated.
Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service on his part mentioned that the transition is to ensure that the hospital will be able to train the needed human resource to be more advanced in the medical field and also provide the best services of care to the entire region and beyond.
The event brought together Ministers of State, MPs, CEOs of Teaching hospital, Medical Directors, members of Academia, Nananom, Government appointees and many others.