Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, says government has rolled out a four-week recovery plan to fix persistent challenges in the electronic healthcare management network that have disrupted operations in hospitals across the country.
Addressing the Government Accountability Series on October 29, Akandoh said a new system — the Ghana Healthcare Information Management System (GHIMS) — has been procured to replace the faulty platform, with the goal of improving efficiency, data security, and patient care continuity.
According to Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the breakdown of the NHIA’s electronic hospital management platform was caused by operational failures on the part of Lightwave Health Information Management System Limited, the firm responsible for running the system.
He explained that under the government’s recovery and transition plan, health facilities will be onboarded in phases over the next month to ensure a smooth and secure migration to the new platform.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mr. Akandoh outlined a phased rollout strategy beginning with major hospitals and extending to community health centers.
“The 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 — to roll them over onto the system,” he explained.
He noted that the second phase will cover the remaining district hospitals, while the third phase will extend to clinics, health centers, and CHPS compounds.
“In the second week, we’ll be looking at the rest of the district hospitals. And then in the third week, we’ll be looking at the clinics, the health centers, and the CHPS compounds,” he said.
Mr. Akandoh assured the public that the government is working around the clock to resolve the challenges, expressing optimism that normal operations will resume within a month.
“So, 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,” he declared.
The Minister’s statement comes amid mounting public concern over disruptions in healthcare delivery, with many calling for swift government action to restore full functionality across medical facilities.
Mr. Akandoh said the system failure is tied to a $100 million deal signed in 2019 with Lightwave to connect 950 health facilities on a nationwide electronic health records network.
“At this point, I would want to share with you the facts, as we inherited them. The contract sum was $100 million to connect 950 health facilities. The contract was supposed to expire in 2022.” He Stated.
The Minister noted that the project’s rollout was riddled with delays and inefficiencies, forcing the government to grant multiple extensions up to December 31, 2024. Despite this grace period, he said, the contractor still fell short of expectations.
“By the time the contract expired, barely 450 of the planned 950 health facilities had been linked to the platform — a clear indication that the company failed to deliver,” Mr. Akandoh observed.
The Minister said the government asked Lightwave to hand over the e-health system as the contract required, but the system’s hosting on an Indian cloud server made it difficult for Ghana to gain full access and control.
“We invited the vendor, but the contract had expired, and therefore, they must hand over to the state. To have access to the medical records of Ghanaians without the state taking control — without even having access to the service — was unacceptable.” He explained.
According to Mr. Akandoh, a forensic audit exposed serious flaws in the system’s operations and in the quality of hardware provided. He assured that the Ministry of Health is working to restore full functionality to the electronic health management platform and put safeguards in place to avoid future disruptions. Going forward, he noted, digital health initiatives will be guided by monitoring, accountability standards and stricter transparency.