Copyright ghanaguardian
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has announced a four-week roadmap to resolve the breakdown of Ghana’s electronic healthcare management system, which has disrupted hospital operations nationwide. Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, Mr. Akandoh revealed that a new platform — the Ghana Healthcare Information Management System — has been procured to replace the faulty system and ensure uninterrupted healthcare delivery. He attributed the disruption to Lightwave Health Information Management System Limited, the private company contracted to manage the previous platform, citing poor performance and contract breaches. Under the new plan, teaching hospitals, regional hospitals, and major district hospitals will be migrated onto the new system within the first week, followed by all district hospitals in the second week, and clinics, health centers, and CHPS compounds in weeks three and four. “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,” the Minister said. The system failure has led to widespread delays, especially in the Ashanti Region, where many hospitals reverted to manual record-keeping. Patients have complained about long waiting times and service slowdowns. Mr. Akandoh assured Ghanaians that the government is committed to strengthening the nation’s digital health infrastructure. “The medical records of Ghanaians would never go back to the manual way. We are moving forward — responsibly, confidently, and decisively,” he stressed. Contract Failures and Audit Findings The Minister disclosed that in 2019, a $100 million contract was signed with Lightwave to connect 950 health facilities to a unified digital platform. However, by the end of the contract period in 2024, only 450 facilities had been connected. “The company underperformed,” Mr. Akandoh stated, adding that the system’s hosting on a cloud server in India limited Ghana’s access to its own medical records. Following a forensic audit that uncovered major functional and hardware deficiencies, the government has taken steps to assume full control of the system. Mr. Akandoh emphasized that future digital health projects will be implemented with stronger transparency, oversight, and accountability to prevent similar failures.
