The government has approved the demolition of a more than four-decade-old uncompleted maternity and children’s block of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

The demolition will allow for the reconstruction of an entirely new ultramodern edifice, which will serve as Ghana’s second referral centre for 12 of the 16 regions of Ghana.

According to authorities, the facility which is located in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi has failed to meet its structural integrity test after an assessment by the construction firm tasked to ensure its completion.

Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah confirmed that the decision to pull down the facility is based on the final report by the construction firm, Contracta, after its assessment of the whole structure.

The project, which began in 1976 as part of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Expansion Project, came to a standstill in 1979.

President Akufo-Addo in May 2020 cut the sod for the construction of the project and assigned a completion deadline of 36-months.

The construction and completion of the project will be funded by the Deutsche Bank in Germany, at a cost of €155 million.

The 750-bed maternity and children’s Block is expected to be a state-of-the-art, modern health edifice, with paediatrics, gynaecology, obstetrics units, with outpatient areas for adults and children, with 10 operating theatres and diagnostic rooms, fully equipped with X-Ray, ultrasound, and mammography facilities.

The facility will also contain an intensive care unit, a high dependency unit, isolation rooms, and student lecture halls, with the capacity to provide catering services for staff, patients, and students, upon completion.