Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has announced a four-week plan to resolve the ongoing breakdown in the countryโs electronic healthcare management system.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, the Health Minister disclosed that a new platform โ the Ghana Healthcare Information Management System โ has been procured by the government to address the challenges and ensure the continuity of healthcare delivery.
The Minister attributed the recent disruption in the National Health Insurance Authorityโs (NHIA) electronic hospital management system to Lightwave Health Information Management System Limited, the private company contracted to operate the platform.
He revealed that various health facilities will be gradually migrated onto the new system within the next four weeks.
โThe plan going forward is that in the next one week, we are going to begin with the teaching hospitals, the regional hospitals, and the highly populated district hospitals โ to roll them over onto the system.
โIn the second week, weโll be looking at the rest of the district hospitals. And then in the third week, weโll be looking at the clinics, the health centers, and the CHPS compounds.
โSo, I am confidently announcing to the good people of this country that we have a four-week plan that will get us out of this mess,โ Mr. Akandoh stated.
The system breakdown has caused widespread delays in record-keeping and patient processing, particularly in the Ashanti Region, where many hospitals have reverted to manual operations. Patients have since expressed frustration over prolonged waiting times and slower service delivery.
The Health Minister assured the public that the government remains committed to restoring and strengthening the nationโs digital health infrastructure.
โThe medical records of Ghanaians would never go back to the manual way. We are moving forward โ responsibly, confidently, and decisively,โ he declared.
Contract and Performance Lapses
Explaining the cause of the system failure, Mr. Akandoh revealed that in 2019, the government signed a $100 million contract with Lightwave to connect 950 health facilities nationwide to a unified digital health records platform.
โAt this point, I would want to share with you the facts as we inherited them,โ he said. โThe contract sum was $100 million to connect 950 health facilities. The contract was supposed to expire in 2022.โ
He explained that the project was poorly executed, prompting multiple extensions until December 31, 2024. However, even after five years, the company had failed to deliver as agreed.
โAt the end of the expiration, out of the 950 facilities, only 450 had been connected. Clearly, nobody needs to tell you that the company underperformed,โ Mr. Akandoh remarked.
Audit Findings and State Takeover
The Minister further disclosed that upon assuming office, the government requested that Lightwave hand over control of the system and its infrastructure to the state, as required under the contract. However, complications arose because the system was hosted on a cloud infrastructure in India, limiting Ghanaโs access and control.
โWe invited the vendor, but the contract had expired, and therefore, they had to hand over to the state,โ he explained. โTo have access to the medical records of Ghanaians without the state taking control โ without even having access to the service โ was unacceptable.โ
A forensic audit, according to Mr. Akandoh, revealed significant gaps in both the systemโs functionality and the hardware supplied under the contract.
The Health Minister reiterated that his ministry is working to fully restore the electronic health management system and prevent a recurrence of such failures.
He emphasized that future digital health projects will be executed with greater transparency, oversight, and accountability.
Source: Citinewsroom
