The Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAoG) has called for urgent dialogue with government following remarks by the Minister of Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, indicating that state-sponsored recruitment and posting of health workers are currently limited to public and non-profit health institutions such as the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG).
In a press statement issued on June 22, 2026, PHFAoG expressed concern over what it described as the exclusion of private healthcare providers from national staffing support arrangements despite the significant role they play in Ghana’s healthcare delivery system.
The Association’s response follows comments made by the sector minister in Parliament on June 16, 2026, while answering a question from the Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, regarding government’s plans to engage the private sector in absorbing more healthcare professionals and improving access to quality healthcare.
PHFAoG acknowledged the important contribution of GHS and CHAG to healthcare delivery in the country but stressed that private health facilities also shoulder a substantial portion of the national healthcare burden.
According to the Association, its members operate more than 3,000 clinics, hospitals, maternity homes and diagnostic centres across all 16 regions, serving over 12 million patients annually and accounting for approximately 40 percent of healthcare services delivered outside public facilities.
The Association noted that many of its facilities are located in rural and peri-urban communities where they often serve as the only accessible healthcare centres for residents.
“From Accra and Kumasi to rural districts, our clinics, maternity homes and hospitals are often the first and only point of care for many communities,” the statement said.
PHFAoG further revealed that its facilities collectively provide more than 18,000 hospital beds nationwide and employ over 35,000 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, midwives and laboratory .
It added that about 90 percent of its facilities are accredited under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), delivering maternal healthcare, child health services, emergency care and treatment for non-communicable diseases.
The Association warned that staffing shortages within private healthcare facilities have reached critical levels, especially in underserved districts.
It disclosed that nursing and midwifery vacancy rates in some private facilities range between 45 and 60 percent, while one out of every three trained staff members leaves for the public sector or migrates abroad within two years due to salary disparities.
PHFAoG argued that the current healthcare staffing crisis cannot be solved if one segment of the health sector is left out of government interventions.
“Healthcare is not about ownership structure. It is about lives,” the Association stated.
The Association rejected suggestions that private healthcare providers are solely profit-driven, insisting that they are key partners in Ghana’s quest to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“Excluding us from staffing support creates a two-tier system where a patient’s access to a nurse or midwife depends on the signboard of the facility, not their medical need,” the statement added.
PHFAoG clarified that it is not demanding full government payment of salaries for workers posted to private facilities but is rather seeking dialogue on a mutually beneficial support framework.
Among its proposals, the Association called for equitable staff posting support for PHFAoG facilities, particularly in underserved areas, similar to arrangements currently enjoyed by CHAG facilities.
It also proposed discussions around alternative compensation models, including partial salary support, bonded staff postings, tax relief offsets and results-based funding tied to NHIS and Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) delivery.
Additionally, PHFAoG urged the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Finance and the Association’s technical team to convene and design a sustainable framework that balances fiscal discipline with improved healthcare access.
The Association argued that extending staffing support to private facilities would be cost-effective for government since private operators already provide the infrastructure.
“Posting staff to PHFAoG facilities in hard-to-reach areas costs less than building new public facilities.We provide infrastructure, while government provides human resources,” it stated.
PHFAoG also highlighted the role private facilities play in supporting the CHPS referral system, warning that inadequate staffing in private centres could weaken healthcare referral chains in many communities.
They made a passionate appeal to government to prioritise the healthcare needs of ordinary Ghanaians over institutional distinctions.
“The Ghanaian who walks into a PHFAoG hospital, clinic or maternity home in labour at 2am deserves the same chance at a skilled midwife as the one who walks into a GHS or CHAG facility,” the Association said.
PHFAoG President, Dr. Kwame Buabeng-Frimpong through the press statement reaffirmed the Association’s commitment to collaborating with government to strengthen Ghana’s healthcare system and improve universal access to quality care.
By 1960news.com
