Govt has arranged to cover electricity bills of defaulting hospitals – Okoe-Boye

Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, the Minister of Health designate, has announced plans to secure funding to cover electricity bills for hospitals to avoid disconnections.

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had previously issued disconnection notices to 91 hospitals with outstanding bills.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) had earlier instructed all government health facilities to use Internally Generated Funds

Read full article(IGF) for electricity bills starting June 1, 2023. However, speaking at the Health Sector Annual Summit 2024 on May 15, Dr. Okoe-Boye acknowledged that this directive had negatively impacted some health facilities.

"Public hospitals in Ghana are struggling to pay their electricity bills. Health service providers have especially lamented using 40 percent of their revenue for these expenses," he noted.

Dr. Okoe-Boye stated that the Health Ministry is taking steps to assist government hospitals with their electricity payments.

"The ECG issued a demand notice to 91 hospitals with outstanding bills, warning of disconnection if payments were not made. We have had discussions with the Ministry of Finance, and the government has arranged to provide relief to these hospitals," he explained.

He added, "Moving forward, we are working on strategies to improve energy efficiency in our hospitals."