In his 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Friday, February 27, 2026, President John Dramani Mahama issued a stern directive to all healthcare facilities in Ghana: "No patient must be turned away from any hospital".
The President's order comes in the wake of public outcry over the recent death of engineer Charles Amissah, who allegedly passed away after being denied emergency care due to a lack of available beds. Mahama emphasized that under the "Resetting Ghana" agenda, emergency care is a fundamental right that must not be compromised by administrative or logistical hurdles.
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| President John Mahama |
Zero Tolerance for "No Bed" Excuses
President Mahama highlighted that the "no bed syndrome" has plagued the Ghanaian health sector for too long and that his administration is taking direct legislative and operational steps to end it:
Mandatory Emergency Stabilization: All hospitals—public, private, and mission-based—are now mandated to stabilize any patient in a critical or emergency condition before any discussion of bed availability or payment.
Hospital Accountability: The President warned that hospital administrators will be held personally accountable for any loss of life resulting from a refusal to provide emergency stabilization.
Real-Time Bed Monitoring: As part of the ICT integration into the health sector, the President announced the full rollout of a National Bed Management System in 2026 to allow emergency services to track available beds across all major facilities in real-time.
Strengthening the Health Safety Net
To ensure hospitals have the resources to follow this directive, the President outlined several supporting financial and structural reforms:
Uncapping the NHIS: The government has "uncapped" the National Health Insurance Levy, releasing approximately GH₵3.5 billion to improve liquidity for service providers and ensure timely payments.
"MahamaCares" (Ghana Medical Trust Fund): Launched to cover chronic and high-cost conditions—such as kidney failure, cancers, and heart diseases—that often lead to financial barriers at the point of care.
Free Primary Healthcare: The President reiterated the implementation of Free Primary Healthcare from the CHPS compound level to polyclinics, aimed at reducing the burden on major referral hospitals.
Agenda 111 Completion: To address the infrastructure deficit, the President confirmed that a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and franchising model has been introduced to finally complete the stalled Agenda 111 hospital projects.
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