A few years back, the government demolished the La General Hospital to make way for the construction of a new hospital for improved healthcare delivery in the La Dadekotopon Municipality and its environs.
The explanation that was given at the time for the demolition was that the hospital was in bad shape.
At the time, everyone was happy that the hospital that served many people in the eastern part of Accra was going to be reconstructed to ensure improved health delivery for them.
Unfortunately, many hopes were dashed when the promised rehabilitation did not happen.
In fact, due to some unexplained reason the place for the reconstruction of the facility remains bare and residents in the area as well as members of the public are puzzled about the long delay in reconstruction of the hospital.
Actually, during the long wait some residents even had to embark on demonstrations to call attention to the long delay and reconstruction of the facility.
The Ghanaian Times recalls during one of the demonstrations that the residents did not mince words when they spoke openly against the long delay and pointed fingers at some officials.
Again, we recall that some government officials promised that the stalled project would soon take off and that the government was working hard to ensure the project was started.
Nothing has been heard since but thankfully, as we have published elsewhere in this issue, construction work is expected to start this month.
According to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Solomon Kotey Nii Koi, the abandoned project would begin this month.
He is quoted as saying that “the Regional Minister has assured me in the presence of other Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in Accra that the project would begin in November.”
The MCE who said this at the Town hall meeting at La in Accra on Wednesday said the project was a priority and promised to ensure that it was constructed to promote healthcare delivery in the municipality.
He therefore urged residents to exercise patience whilst government commenced the reconstruction of the hospital.
This is not the first time we have heard such promises that obviously did not yield the desired results.
We are hoping that the promise made by the MCE this time would not turn out to be same as the previous ones.
We can understand the anxiety of the residents because the hospital that started as a small polyclinic and became a general hospital had served the people both far and near very well for so many years before it was demolished.
So, justifiably, the residents might have some emotional attachment to the hospital that took care of their health needs and, therefore, would be worried that the reconstruction of the hospital has delayed for a long time.
It is our hope that the latest assurance would not fail as did the previous ones so that we would all see a new hospital for the people of La and its environs in the shortest possible time.
