Former Health Minister Dr Bernard Okoe Boye has defended the demolition of the La General Hospital, insisting that the facility had become a death trap and had to be pulled down to protect lives.
Okoe Boye, who previously worked as a medical officer at the hospital before entering Parliament, said he personally witnessed the poor condition of the building during his time there in 2016.
The former MP recalled that concrete slabs regularly fell from the ceiling onto the floor, raising serious concerns about the safety of workers and patients.
“The last hospital I worked as a medical officer before going to Parliament was La General Hospital. When I was there, around August or September 2016, concrete slabs fell from the ceiling and fell on the floor regularly,” he said.
He explained that the hospital management had raised concerns about the building and appealed to the government to intervene before someone lost their life.
According to him, the medical director, nurse manager and other members of management made the appeal during a visit by a team from the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects, which was supporting pregnant women at the facility.
“They had only one request. They said, ‘Come and do something about this structure or one day all of us will be killed by this structure,’” he recounted.
Okoe Boye said the concerns prompted the government to commission a structural audit of the building.
He explained that the auditors initially considered strengthening the pillars and columns, but their assessment eventually showed that the structure was unsafe.
He added that the building was originally a three-storey facility that had been converted into a hospital, making its structural condition even more concerning.
“The audit said it was better to bring the whole structure down because it was a death trap. This is an audit from structural auditors. The reports are with the Ministry of Health,” he said.
According to Okoe Boye, the auditors recommended that the building be brought down immediately because leaving it standing could have resulted in deaths.
