Health authorities at Nalerigu’s Baptist Medical Centre are compelled to treat patients with various infectious diseases in a single makeshift ward because the contractor who was paid ¢4.5 million for the COVID-19 centre abandoned the site.

Imagine being in a ward with other patients suffering from different infectious diseases. You have mpox, someone has cholera, and the next person on the bed closest to you has TB. Just a series of repeated coughs, and you are likely to go home with another hospital-acquired infection.

This is the daily reality of patients at the Nalerigu Baptist Medical Centre, where health care providers have to treat patients in a makeshift ward.

In 2020, the government awarded Makro Structures Limited a contract worth GH¢15 million, of which GH¢4.5 million was paid upfront, to design and construct a COVID-19 treatment centre for the area.
However, the contractor has since abandoned the site.

JOYNEWS has been tracking the progress of various infectious disease centres.

When Nalerigu recorded its first suspected case of Mpox this year, health authorities at the Baptist Medical Centre had no choice but to treat the patient in its makeshift ward, which had been set aside for infectious diseases.

It’s a typical small room, partitioned to separate patients with different infectious diseases. According to the Medical Director, Dr. Isabella Amese, the ward was originally designated for tuberculosis treatment.

However, as a wider range of cases emerged over time, the team was forced to improvise.

The contractor was paid GH¢4.5 million to complete the facility by October 2022, but only executed 10 per cent of the civil works before abandoning the site.

When JOYNEWS visited, the project was still at the foundation level, with no contractor present. The site had been overtaken by overgrown weeds and stagnant water.

The Auditor-General, in a special report on COVID-19 expenditure between March 2020 and 2022, stated that several efforts by the Ministry of Health to get the contractor to return to the site have proved fruitless.

This is because the contractor did not sign any performance bond. Assembly Member for the Zaari Fong Electoral Area, Bukari Fuseini, says he is appalled by the contractor’s output and is calling on the government to intervene.

The Auditor-General has recommended that the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health recover the mobilisation amount, terminate the contract, and re-award it. Failure to do so would require the Director to refund the amount.

Efforts to get the Health Ministry to comment on the matter have proved futile.

Also at Goaso, in the Ahafo Region, the infectious disease centre is partially completed. A tour of the facility revealed that signage is yet to be installed, sensor control panels are not in place, and minor roof repairs remain outstanding.

Although hospital authorities have taken stock of much of the required equipment, an X-ray machine, a deep freezer, and a stove are yet to be supplied by the contractor. The centre is currently not functional.

When the team inspected the Zebilla Infectious Disease Centre in the Upper East Region, the facility had been completed.

However, due to the absence of any major infectious disease outbreak, hospital management had repurposed the facility by converting sections into neonatal and antenatal units.

A space has, however, been designated specifically for infectious diseases if there is an outbreak in future, confirms Ayobi Abdul Rahman, the Medical Superintendent of Bawku West Hospital.

However, the hospital was not supplied with ventilators or X-ray machines, which are critical equipment for any infectious disease centre.

"The project received support from the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition as part of its objective to build evidence for increased accountability in Ghana through a multi-stakeholder accountability initiative.

"Any financial assistance or support provided to the journalist has no editorial influence. The content of this article belongs solely to the author and is not endorsed by or associated with any entity or any other affiliates," Ayobi Abdul Rahman added.