President John Dramani Mahama has announced that an emergency centre constructed at Burma Camp during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic will be repurposed and equipped with beds to manage only critical cases, as part of efforts to address Ghana’s persistent “no-bed syndrome”.

Speaking during an inspection of reconstruction works at the La General Hospital, President Mahama said the initiative is intended to strengthen emergency response systems and reduce preventable deaths linked to delays in hospital admissions.

He disclosed that the government has been engaging stakeholders on ways to address gaps in emergency healthcare delivery, particularly the shortage of hospital beds during critical moments.
“We discussed with the minister to see how we can sort out the issue of emergency hospital beds when people have an accident, or they have a medical incident,” he said. “Most of the time at night, finding a place for them to be treated has been difficult.”

He added that the Burma Camp facility, originally built during the COVID-19 period, would now be dedicated to emergency care.

“So the emergency centre, which was built in Burma Camp during the COVID period, we're going to repurpose it so that it has beds for handling only emergencies,” he said.

President Mahama explained that the centre would serve as a stabilisation point for patients who are unable to find immediate care in other hospitals.
“So if there's an emergency and a person is not accepted at any of these hospitals, the emergency centre in Burma Camp will be there. The emergency nurses and doctors will be there to stabilise the patient. Once the patient is stabilised, then we can move them to a regular hospital.”

He stressed that the Ministry of Health is taking steps to reduce avoidable deaths caused by the lack of available hospital beds.

“So the ministry is taking action to prevent needless deaths due to the no-bed syndrome,” he said.

Turning to infrastructure development, President Mahama also provided an update on the reconstruction of the La General Hospital, which has been under redevelopment since January 2024 following years of delay.

The hospital was demolished in July 2020 after a structural audit deemed it unsafe. It is now being replaced with a modern 160-bed, six-storey facility, with the project previously stalled due to funding constraints.

He indicated that the new facility is expected to be completed by November 2027, commending contractors for the progress made and urging that work continues steadily to ensure timely delivery.

President Mahama noted that the redevelopment is critical given the pressure the demolition of the old facility has placed on surrounding hospitals.

“Since it was demolished and was no longer serving patients, all the patients who used to come here now go to Ridge Hospital, or they go to Lekma or to Korle Bu,” he said. “And so it is important that we get this hospital back in better shape to provide an additional 160 beds.”

He further revealed that government is taking steps to accelerate other stalled health infrastructure projects, including the termination and re-awarding of the police hospital contract to speed up completion.

“In the meantime, we have terminated the contract on the police hospital. We are going to re-award it so that we can finish it quickly and then create more bed space,” he said.
He concluded that expanding healthcare capacity is essential to meet the needs of Accra’s growing population.

“Accra is a fast-growing city, and so the population demands quality health care, and so we'll do everything possible to make sure that we complete this project so that we can afford good quality health care,” he said.