The Potential Power of Public-Private Partnerships in Ghana

Carol Bales — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:53:09 +0000

This post was originally published on the IntraHealth International blog.

Garden City University College is a private nursing school in Kumasi, Ghana, where I spent six weeks this summer assessing the school’s progress toward improving its management practices. During my time at Garden City, I heard from several people that Ghana’s government is reluctant to work with private schools, and concerned that private schools are training subpar nurses.

Hearing this—both from members of the public and from people within the private school—was discouraging. Ghana is one of 57 countries that have a significant shortage of health workers¹. In Ghana there are only about 10 nurses and midwives and one physician for every 10,000 people—numbers that fall far below the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Public institutions cannot fill the gap on their own.

Author's name:

Ariana Katz

Publication Date:

August 2013