Serious concerns have been raised over the current deteriorating state of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, popularly known as Ridge Hospital, following reports that the hospital’s lift systems in the main and logistic buildings have broken down for weeks and have not been fixed .Security is lax, the facility is dirty, MRI and CT Scans are not working as well as extortion of monies from patients and their relatives using various schemes.
According to verified reports, the hospital’s elevator has been out of service for weeks , causing severe challenges for patients, staff, and visitors particularly between the facility’s multiple floors.
Pregnant women, the elderly, and patients recovering from surgery have been forced to use the staircases and breeze way — a development health professionals say poses life-threatening risks.
“This is not just incompetence but lack of operational direction. Do you remember the reported tragic death of a Nigerian doctor from a Lagos hospital lift in August 2023, what does it take to fix a lift ?”said a senior nurse who spoke to our reporters on condition of anonymity.
“We are facing serious challenges here — the lifts are not working, patients are being moved up and down the stairs. In the middle of this, if something happens, who takes responsibility?” said another staff.
The MRI and CT Scans are not working and patients go outside the facility to get these investigations done.
The malfunctioning lift system also affects the hospital’s ability to safely transfer critically ill patients.
According to insiders,, a surgery case had to be postponed because of patient movement challenges among others.
This dire situation occurred after the “ agenda setting “ transfer of some management members who are seen by many as gatekeepers against corruption.
Call for Ghana Health Service and Ministerial Intervention and Accountability
With this bad situation, attention has now turned to the Minister of Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, to look at Ridge Hospital beyond the media and public relations optics.
Critics argue that the silence of the Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health in the face of such operational breakdowns and unexplained personnel changes is loud.
“ We saw the washroom drama here at Ridge, the Tamale Teaching Hospital Incident some weeks ago” another insider said.
“This is a public facility. The Minister must explain to the good people of Ghana why Ridge Hospital — the biggest GHS referral facility and in the capital Accra, is being allowed to fall into such a state.
Some have also raised questions about whether the transfers are linked to deeper issues such as vindictiveness and personal vendetta from superiors or attempts to cover up corrupt practices before being exposed. Is the unfolding situation the result of these actions?
Staff morale is said to be at an all-time low, with the notion and caution that complaints will lead to transfers under the disguise of “ resetting”
Demands to fix the problems
The situation has triggered behind -the – scene conversations with many demanding immediate intervention from the Health Minister with staff calling for urgent repairs and a look at the administrative lapses with the lift crisis, dirty environmental, lax security and extortion at the facility.
Until then, Ridge Hospital — once touted as a symbol of modern healthcare in Ghana — appears to be teetering on the edge of operational paralysis.
The next steps by the Ministry of Health and for that matter Ghana Health Service will likely determine whether the hospital’s problems are resolved or whether the facility slides further into dysfunction as is happening now.