The newly refurbished Ridge Hospital also referred to as the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, has formally opened its doors to the general public.

A ceremony was held Wednesday to commemorate the opening and formal operationalization of the first phase of the 420-bed facility equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

Although former President John Mahama commissioned the hospital sometime last November, it did not open its doors to patients until today.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu hinted, President Nana Akufo-Addo's government would soon secure funding to commence the second phase of the project.

He said although government is restrained with resources, it would do all it can to find the resources to complete the second phase of the project as the health of Ghanaians is a priority. 

The second phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2018.

The second part is expected to add 200 more beds to the 620-bed capacity hospital financed by government with support from the Exim and HSBC Banks at an estimated value of $250 million.

The cost of the hospital construction dominated headlines in the run up to the 2016 election when the then opposition leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo now President attacked the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of inflating the cost of the project.

Candidate Akufo-Addo in his ‘real state of the nation’ address delivered in February 2015 accused former President Mahama of inflating the cost of the project by $142 million.

The then government as well as Crown Agents Ghana Limited, the company contracted to conduct the value for money assessment, challenged his accusation.

They said the total contract price for the project was rather reduced by $142 million.

Apart from its world-class medical equipment, the hospital also boasts of delivery suites, maternity wards, intensive care units and other modern facilities.