The ageing Gordon-Guggisberg maternity block at Ghana’s premier referral hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, is set for demolition after President John Dramani Mahama described the facility as a “death trap” requiring urgent replacement.
According to the President, the condition of the decades-old structure has deteriorated to a point where it can no longer safely serve as a maternity facility, despite its continued use by expectant mothers.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory on Thursday, July 9, 2026, President Mahama said the government would take steps to replace the building with a modern maternity block to ensure safer healthcare delivery.
“We will pull down the old Gordon-Guggisberg building that has today become a death trap,” President Mahama stated.
“Every other day, our mothers give birth in that building. It is a death trap that can cause devastation.”
The President explained that efforts were already underway to procure a replacement facility to prevent interruptions to maternal healthcare services at the country’s premier referral hospital.
The intervention forms part of an expanded mandate of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, popularly known as “Mahama Cares”, which will now support not only medical treatment but also the development of healthcare infrastructure, acquisition of specialised equipment, and training of health professionals.
President Mahama said the expansion of the fund’s role was necessary after government recognised that providing financial support for treatment alone was insufficient without the appropriate facilities and equipment to support patients.
As part of measures to strengthen specialist healthcare delivery, the President also announced that Cabinet had approved the recruitment and training of 500 critical care nurses.
He disclosed that the first phase of the training programme had begun at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and would later be extended to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
In addition, the government has established the Ghana Medical Equipment Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Trust Fund, to oversee the maintenance and replacement of specialised medical equipment in public health facilities.
President Mahama said previous efforts to equip hospitals had been undermined by poor maintenance systems.
“We found out that most of that equipment was not properly maintained… It is not a sustainable model,” he said.
The President emphasised that the new approach would focus on ensuring that healthcare infrastructure and equipment remain functional to support quality medical services across the country.
