Also known as: Mr Akandoh · Minister for Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh · Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh · Mr Mintah Akandoh · Mr. Akandoh · Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh · Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
Health Minister managing healthcare workforce expansion, blood supply deficits, and KATH CEO suspension crisis.
The Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, says he did not need parliamentary approval to suspend the Chief Executive Officer of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr. …
Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has defended the suspension of the Chief Executive Officer of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo, describing the action as necessary following the unauthorised closure of the hospital’s Accident and Emergency U …
The Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has pledged government support to the National Blood Service (NBS) to help address the country’s growing demand for blood. …
… The family has accused some staff of the facility, particularly a midwife who was on duty at the time, of possible involvement in the incident and is appealing to the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service to intervene an …
The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has reaffirmed Government’s commitment to strengthening healthcare delivery and bringing quality services closer to communities through the rollout of the Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) initiative. …
The Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has announced that the government is contemplating reducing admissions to health training institutions to tackle the existing employment backlogs in the health sector. …
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II The Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, must adopt a better management template for the sector he manages on behalf of the people of Ghana. …
Ghana’s progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) depends on building and retaining a resilient, motivated and equitably distributed health workforce, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has said. …
… Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, outlined measures being implemented to strengthen the health workforce, including the recruitment of additional health professionals, expansion of specialist and post-basic training programmes, and improved deployment to underserved co …
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says he did not need parliamentary approval to suspend Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital CEO Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, after the Minority Leader criticized the decision and called on the minister to explain the circumstances and process behind the action.
Why it matters
Health Minister's defence of the KATH CEO suspension remains relevant as a significant public sector accountability and governance story.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says he did not need parliamentary approval to suspend Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital CEO Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, after the Minority Leader criticized the decision and called on the minister to explain the circumstances and process behind the action.
The Minister of Health defended the suspension of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital's CEO, saying the Accident and Emergency Unit was closed without Health Ministry approval, violating a presidential directive that health facilities must prioritise emergency care and not turn away patients.
The Health Minister says Ghana needs 300,000 units of blood annually but collected only 200,000 units last year, creating a significant deficit. The government plans to support the National Blood Service with equipment for screening, processing, and storage at regional blood centres to address the shortage.
The family of a woman who gave birth at Salaga Government Hospital in the Savannah Region is demanding an independent investigation into the alleged disappearance of their newborn baby girl. The baby was reportedly born on Wednesday morning but could not be found after the mother was transferred to the postnatal ward, prompting accusations against hospital staff and appeals to Ghana's Health Minister.
Ghana's Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh launched the Free Primary Healthcare initiative in the Volta Region during a working visit that included engagements with traditional leaders and health officials. The initiative is designed to complement the National Health Insurance Scheme and shift the healthcare system toward prevention and early detection rather than curative care.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh announced that the government is contemplating reducing admissions to health training institutions to address employment backlogs, noting that nursing training colleges admit 34,000–35,000 students annually but absorption rates do not match. He suggested redirecting savings to purchasing healthcare equipment instead.
An editorial in the Daily Guide criticizes Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh's management of the sector, noting that doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital downed tools in protest. The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, intervened to suspend the strike, and the editorial calls on the government to expedite a response to the doctors' grievances and for the minister to maintain better relations with health workers.
The Member of Parliament for Lambussie, Prof. Titus Beyuo, has expressed confidence that the Sewua Hospital in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region will begin operations before the end of 2026, as the government works to resolve infrastructural and administrative issues that have kept the facility non-operational since its 2025 commissioning.
Ghana's Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said building and retaining a resilient, motivated and equitably distributed health workforce is crucial to achieving Universal Health Coverage and sustaining recent gains in healthcare access and service delivery. He emphasised that health workers are the backbone of healthcare delivery and that workforce development must remain central to health sector reforms.
Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has urged African countries to break from aid dependency and treat healthcare as a national security and economic priority driven by domestic investment and strong health workforces. At the 2026 Annual Health Summit, she stressed the importance of strengthening Ghana's health workforce through strategic recruitment, equitable deployment, and improved retention, particularly in underserved communities.
Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament's Health Committee Patrick Boakye-Yiadom weeded the grounds of the Afari Military Hospital during a parliamentary committee visit, expressing disappointment over the yet-to-be-operationalised facility's deteriorated state and calling for the government to immediately activate it to ease pressure on Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
The Health Minister announced that government has provided 30 PhD scholarships for nurse tutors over the past year to upgrade their academic and professional capacity, strengthen health training institutions, and improve the quality of healthcare delivery.
Ghana's Health Minister says government is considering about 16,000 health workers for deployment this year, with 1,500 already processed, to address staffing gaps in underserved areas. The ministry is scaling up nursing training and expanding specialist medical education to strengthen the health workforce.
Ghana's health workforce has more than tripled in recent years, with health worker density improving from 16.5 to 41.9 per 10,000 population and doctors, nurses and midwives reaching 82.75 per 10,000—above WHO benchmarks. However, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh acknowledged persistent inequalities, with most health personnel concentrated in urban centres like Greater Accra and Ashanti, while migration pressures continue to threaten retention.
The Chief Executive Officer of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has appealed to striking doctors and nurses to return to work in the interest of patients and the public, expressing gratitude for their solidarity while urging them to resume duty as discussions continue. The strike follows his suspension over administrative decisions relating to the hospital's Accident and Emergency Unit.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Ashanti Regional Minister Dr. Frank Amoakohene has brokered a breakthrough in the industrial action by doctors, nurses and midwives at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital following a meeting on Sunday, June 7, 2026. The minister reportedly assured that government will operationalise key hospital facilities in the Ashanti Region to ease pressure on KATH.
Medical doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital launched an indefinite strike on June 6 after the Health Minister suspended the hospital's CEO. The Ashanti Regional Minister said stakeholders are engaged in active dialogue and expressed optimism that a resolution was within reach, with nurses and midwives also threatening to join the action.
Parliament's Health Committee Chairman Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane has urged calm and dialogue to resolve the ongoing impasse at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where doctors and nurses are on an indefinite strike following the suspension of the hospital's CEO by the Health Minister. He warned that the disruption of healthcare services at the referral hospital is putting patients' lives in danger.
The Chief Executive Officer of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has appealed to staff to resume work following a strike triggered by his two-week suspension ordered by the Health Minister. The industrial action has disrupted services at the facility, with hundreds of patients stranded at the Out-Patient Department.
Doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi have declared a strike following the suspension of the hospital's Chief Executive Officer by the Minister of Health. The doctors will not call off the strike until the suspension is reversed, and have also demanded clear policies on patient overflow management and timelines for hospital retooling in the Ashanti Region.
Ghana's health minister recommended the suspension of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital's CEO, Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, following the temporary closure of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Centre, which was reopened within 24 hours after measures to address severe congestion were implemented.
The Ministry of Health has suspended the Chief Executive Officer of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo, for two weeks to allow an independent investigation into the closure of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Unit. The suspension follows the CEO's public announcement of the cessation of emergency admissions, which the Ministry says contradicted national directives requiring emergency care access.
Nurses and midwives at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have threatened to join an ongoing industrial action over the Health Minister's two-week suspension of the hospital's CEO, arguing that the suspension does not address the hospital's underlying challenges of overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, and resource constraints.
Nurses and midwives at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital have threatened to join an ongoing doctors' strike from June 7 unless the suspension of the hospital's Chief Executive Officer is reversed, arguing the suspension will not address the hospital's structural and logistical challenges.
The Ghana Medical Association has called for the immediate reinstatement of the suspended Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) CEO, arguing that the hospital's temporary closure of its Accident and Emergency Centre due to overcrowding was a professionally appropriate patient safety measure. The GMA warned that continued confrontations between government and health professionals could destabilize the sector.
The Ghana Medical Association has given full support to striking doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and demanded the government reinstate the hospital's suspended CEO within three working days, describing the suspension as "without basis" and defending KATH management's decision to temporarily halt new emergency admissions as consistent with best practice in patient safety.
Medical doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital have announced an indefinite withdrawal of services in protest against the suspension of the hospital's CEO by the Minister for Health, which they say was unjustified and undermines patient care efforts. The suspension followed the hospital's temporary halt of new admissions at its overcrowded Accident and Emergency Centre, a measure the doctors described as a necessary clinical intervention to prevent deaths amid severe capacity constraints.
The CEO of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, has been suspended for two weeks for announcing the suspension of emergency admissions, contrary to President Mahama's directive that public hospitals must not suspend emergency cases. He admitted to breaching the presidential directive during a meeting with the Minister of Health on June 4, 2026.
A midwife at the Community 22 Polyclinic in Tema was assaulted by a patient's relative on June 2, 2026, while enforcing the facility's visiting hours policy. The Ghana Health Service has condemned the attack as an unacceptable and unprovoked act of violence against a healthcare worker, with the suspect to be arraigned on June 8.
The Ministry of Health threw its full support behind a senior staff midwife who was allegedly assaulted by a patient's relative at Community 22 Polyclinic in Ashaiman on June 2, 2026, describing the incident as unacceptable and a threat to the safety of healthcare professionals. A six-member ministry delegation visited the midwife to convey the minister's concern and assure her that the ministry would stand firmly behind her during investigations.