President John Mahama has announced plans to construct a new maternity block at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, describing the existing Gordon Guggisberg Building as unsafe and unfit for expectant mothers.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory at the National Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the President said the government has begun the procurement process for the project as part of efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure across the country.
“Let me also announce that we are going through the procurement process to build a new maternity block for the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital,” he said.
President Mahama disclosed that the existing maternity facility would be demolished because of its deteriorating condition.
“And we will pull down the old Gordon Guggisberg building that has today become a death trap; every other day our mothers give birth in that building. It is a death trap that can cause devastation,” he said.
The President said replacing the ageing structure reflects his administration’s broader commitment to investing in healthcare infrastructure that protects lives and improves the quality of medical services.
He stressed that national development should not be measured solely by investments in roads, bridges and other physical infrastructure but also by efforts to improve healthcare and the well-being of citizens.
“And so let history record that this generation chose to invest not only in roads, bridges and buildings, but also in the health, dignity and future of our people,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that the true value of investments in the health sector lies in their impact on people’s lives rather than the sophistication of the facilities.
Referring to the newly commissioned cardiac catheterisation laboratory, he said its success would ultimately be measured by the number of lives it saves and the hope it brings to patients and their families.
“The true significance of this facility will be measured not by the sophistication of the equipment, but by the countless lives it will save, by the families it will keep together and by the hope it will restore to a grateful nation,” he said.
