as Ghana Medical Trust Fund Breaks Ground for New Cardio Centre
By Phillip Antoh
In the red earth of Kumasi, a new beat is stirring. Construction of the Cardiothoracic Centre at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is forging ahead with uncharacteristic speed, just six weeks after the ceremonial sod was turned. A recent technical inspection suggests that this time, the paperwork may actually translate into concrete.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund, the entity steering the project, dispatched its Administrator, Adwoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, to the site for a rigorous assessment of the foundational phase. She was accompanied by Adann Benjamin Diaz, Chief Executive Officer of ADB Ghana Medicals Limited, the contracting firm entrusted with delivery. Their presence signals a determination to embed technical rigour at the earliest stage, a departure from projects where grand launches give way to silent sites.
Discussions on the ground were decidedly unglamorous, focusing on the sinews of infrastructure: power capacity, utility connections, and structural integrity. Technical input flowed from Fred Effah-Yeboah, KATH’s Director of General Administration, and Kwame Sarfo, Head of Capital Investments at the Ministry of Health. Their involvement suggests a coordinated attempt to align the centre’s design with the realities of Ghana’s healthcare grid, avoiding the trap of a facility that shines but cannot function.
Project insiders acknowledge that the foundational stage is the most treacherous. Once the concrete is poured and the steel anchored, they argue, the true scale and impact of the centre will come into view. For now, the optimism is measured but palpable.
The Cardiothoracic Centre forms a critical plank in the government’s broader health sector strategy, aimed at expanding specialist care and curbing the costly exodus of patients seeking advanced treatment abroad. If completed to specification, KATH will gain a dedicated facility to tackle the growing burden of heart disease, a silent epidemic across the region.
Yet the ghosts of abandoned projects linger. The question hovering over the Kumasi site is whether this momentum can be sustained when the political cameras depart. For the moment, however, the builders are digging in, and for once, the foundation appears to be holding.