The Volta Regional hospital, known as Trafalgar, has been upgraded to a teaching hospital and will be called Ho teaching hospital.
This makes the hospital a tertiary health facility and the supporting-teaching-facility for the University of Health and Allied Sciences, UHAS.
According to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, the hospital has met all regulatory requirements and has also been accredited as a teaching hospital.
The Minister also noted that the Ministry of Health has recognized the shortfalls in human and infrastructural resources of the facility and has made plans to fill such gaps.
“I’m also happy to inform you that this hospital has been assessed by all the relevant regulatory bodies of the health sector, for the purpose of accreditation and development in appropriate human resources for quality service delivery as a teaching hospital. Various recommendations have been taken into consideration and the ministry is doing everything possible to address all the gaps/lapse. The ministry is also aware that there are infrastructural gaps and is working towards closing such gaps”.
With its new status, the Ho teaching hospital will be expected to serve as research facility into the prevention and treatment of diseases and also a major referral hospital for the Volta and Oti regions as well as for hospitals in neighbouring Togo and Benin.
Agyemang-Manu also noted that the University of Health and Allied Sciences may soon start offering health service support programs like health service administration among others.
This according to the Minister will help fill up the existing gap in health service administration.
The Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service is expected to name a new regional hospital which according to the Minister of Health has already been selected.
“As we convert this hospital to a teaching hospital, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service will soon announce a new regional hospital and we have identified one already,” the Minister added.