The Bono Regional Hospital in Sunyani is now the Sunyani Teaching Hospital (STH). The facility is to serve the health needs of the people with specialized services.

At the inauguration ceremony in Sunyani, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, said with the support of his government and other stakeholders, the Sunyani Teaching Hospital will become a centre of excellence in Ghana and beyond.

The colourful ceremony was witnessed by some prominent chiefs and people of the region.

The Regional Hospital -Sunyani, which started operation in 2003, has gone through several phases with calls over the years for its upgrade into a teaching hospital.

Cabinet in February 2023 approved the memorandum for the 350-bed capacity facility to be converted into a teaching hospital to provide specialized services.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, President Nana Akufo-Addo said his government, since its inception in 2017, held the conviction that the nation's prosperity is tied to the health of the citizenry, hence the commitment towards securing quality healthcare and making it universally accessible and affordable.

He said the evidence in the health agenda reflects in the Agenda 111 Hospital projects which is at various stages of completion, especially at Berekum, Jinijini and Dormaa Amasu, all in the Bono Region, with the likelihood of having a number of the hospitals completed by the end of the year 2023.

He also said the government is developing a 60-bed capacity infectious disease centre at the STH to help deal with infectious disease outbreaks efficiently and ensure Ghana is better prepared to respond to future epidemics, among many other projects.

"Recognizing the need for more tertiary healthcare facilities, we have converted the Ho Regional Hospital and now the Sunyani Regional Hospital into Teaching Hospitals, augmenting the services of Korle-Bu, Komfo Anokye, Tamale, and Cape Coast Teaching Hospitals".

He said the inauguration of the STH will not only enable the hospital to provide tertiary healthcare delivery but will also offer expanded undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities for doctors and other health professionals from across and beyond the region.

He envisaged that the presence of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), set to become the new Medical School, along with other institutions in Sunyani, will all lend support to the new hospital to achieve its mandate. 

"By establishing the Sunyani Teaching Hospital, we have laid the groundwork for an influx of medical specialists and other healthcare professionals into the region to improve health outcomes", he noted and said "It also signifies the ground work for the further upgrading of infrastructure and the provision of more state-of-the-art medical equipment to serve the region and beyond". 

Nana Akufo-Addo, therefore, expects the inauguration to mark the commencement of a journey by the hospital to becoming a Centre of Excellence in Ghana and the West African sub-region, with high prospects for medical tourism. 

He said the aspiration is to have services such as kidney transplantation, among others, as has been commenced in KBTH, to help ameliorate the complications of NCDs in Ghana.

"In this regard, I affirm that my administration will continue to provide the necessary support as this hospital embarks on this momentous journey", he said.

 He called for stakeholder collaboration for the desired impact.

"I seize this opportunity to entreat all of us to continue to work together for the growth of this hospital. Without collaboration, our efforts will be limited in their impact. It is fitting that we invest in healthcare delivery, and I can assure you of the government's unwavering commitment in this regard".

The Medical Director of STH, Dr Cardinal Newton, acknowledged the new responsibilities but said they have some immediate needs.

He emphasized that "the conversion requires significant resources -both financial and human, development of innovative teaching programs, and strengthening of research infrastructure".

He said it is imperative to ensure that the transition does not disrupt the existing patients' care.

Dwenem Manhene, Nana Bofo Bene II, representing the President of the Bono House of Chiefs, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, thanked and also appealed to the government to go beyond the name change and ensure that the hospital gets the needed assistance to grow to become what a Teaching Hospital should be.