GHANA— Through a US$ 5.7 million loan from the International Finance Corporation, the Accra Medical Centre has agreed to construct a state-of-the-art hospital in the city of Takoradi to serve the Western region of Ghana.
The announcement was made at an agreement signing between the IFC- a World Bank Group subsidiary, and the Accra Medica Centre.
The loan facility to AMC is to support the company’s plan to expand its capacity to provide end-to-end healthcare delivery, key diagnostic and higher-end Primary and Specialist care services in Takoradi, where such a modern facility is most needed.
Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Medical Centre, Dr Cynthia Opoku-Akoto also disclosed that construction will begin in the third quarter of 2023 and hopefully be complete in early 2024.
She expressed that the project aims to go a long way to reduce the need for patients to commute to Accra for diagnostic and specialist services.
According to her, AMC plans to upgrade its maternity services, intensive care unit and specialist surgeries at its existing hospital in Accra and expects this to increase the number of patients it serves annually to about 120,000.
In addition to providing financing, Dr Opoku-Akoto stated IFC would advise the medical facility on healthcare quality management, and on advancing its strategy to service lower-income patients.
“IFC’s package of financing and advisory services is the type of support we need to allow us to raise the quality of our care even higher while building a sustainable business for the long term,” she added.
Dr Opoku-Akoto added that in 11 years, AMC had grown rapidly from a primary care clinic and offsite mine hospital operator to a fully equipped modern hospital currently serving 90,000 patients per annum.
AMC is a wholly Ghanaian-owned Medical Service Provider (MSP) offering primary healthcare and emergency medical services to households and corporate clients since 2012.
The AMC facilities offer high-quality integrated healthcare service providers within the highly fragmented Ghanaian market serving up to 90,000 patients annually.
Since March 2021, AMC has been operating from its ultra–modern specialist and diagnostic medical centre in Osu, Accra.
AMC is managed by experienced local professionals and currently employs about 219 medical and healthcare professionals.
The IFC’s Senior Country Manager for Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, and Togo, Mr Kyle Kelhofer said the private sector played an increasingly critical role in delivering quality healthcare in Ghana.
Mr Kelhofer said, “The IFC’s partnership with Accra Medical Centre will increase access to quality healthcare in Ghana, supporting the country’s goal of expanding access to quality health coverage.”
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, IFC had provided more than US$16 million in financing for healthcare providers in Ghana, including Nyaho Medical Centre, New Crystal Health Services, and Quest Medical Imaging.
“We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries,” he said.
IFC’s investment is supported by the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window Local Currency Facility (IDA PSW LCF), which protects against currency fluctuations.
IDA PSW support is also necessary to enable IFC to provide AMC with affordable, long-term funding in local currency.
The Role of the private sector in Healthcare in Ghana
A Ghana Health Service (GHS) report indicates that across the country, 40.2% of health facilities are privately owned whilst the government and faith-based facilities are 53.8% and 6% respectively.
Ghana living standards survey (GLSS7) indicates that as many as 68.8% of persons in Accra, reported seeking care from private medical facilities.
Factors stimulating private-sector growth in Ghana’s health sector include changing consumer preferences driven by urbanisation, a growing middle class and technological advancement.
Stakeholders contend that the government of Ghana need to begin to address how to better harness the important role played by private actors to achieve national health goals and objectives.
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