The government is repurposing the emergency centre at Burma Camp to serve exclusively as an emergency receiving facility, as part of efforts to end the no-bed syndrome that has for years left Accra residents stranded when they need urgent medical attention.
President John Dramani Mahama announced the measure on Friday during a site visit to the ongoing reconstruction of the La General Hospital in the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, where he said the problem of finding emergency bed space, particularly at night, had become a matter of life and death that demanded immediate action.
“Most of the time, at night, finding a place for them to be treated has been difficult. The emergency centre which was built at Burma Camp during the COVID period is going to be repurposed to have beds for handling only emergencies,” the President said.
Under the arrangement, emergency nurses and doctors will be stationed at the Burma Camp facility around the clock. When a patient is turned away from any hospital in the city, they will be directed to the centre where medical staff will stabilise them before transferring them to a regular hospital for further care.
“The ministry is taking this action to prevent needless deaths due to the no-bed syndrome,” the President said.
The announcement came as the President inspected progress of work on the La General Hospital reconstruction, being handled by Poly Changda Overseas Engineering Company Limited. The Ministry of Health is the client on the project with Vista serving as client representative, and the work is scheduled for completion within 28 calendar months.
The President said the contractor had assured him that the hospital would be ready for commissioning by November 2027.
Once completed, the facility will add 160 beds to Accra’s health system — beds that have been missing since the hospital’s demolition, which has been pushing patients to Ridge Hospital, Lekma Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
“Currently, people complain that when they have emergencies, they are not able to get sufficient beds. This hospital adds 160 more beds,” he added.
In a related move, the President disclosed that the government had terminated the contract on the Police Hospital and would re-award it to fast-track its completion, adding further bed space to the city’s strained health infrastructure.
The President said Accra’s rapid population growth was placing enormous and growing demands on the city’s healthcare system and that the government was determined to ensure quality care kept pace.
He also linked the ongoing La General Hospital reconstruction to the broader health agenda, noting that the recently launched Free Primary Healthcare policy, with its emphasis on prevention, early screening and community health education, would over time reduce the number of people requiring hospitalisation and ease the pressure on health workers and facilities.
“Prevention is better than cure. The primary healthcare will check your blood pressure, sugar level, provide free breast cancer screening and others to enable us detect diseases at an early stage. With that, you would not need to be hospitalised, thereby easing the current pressure on our health workers and health facilities,” he said.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
