Ghana To Set Up A National Command Center For Real-Time Emergency Patient Triage And Redirection

By Tina Moses Sam
Ghana is in the process of establishing a national command center designed to enable doctors to efficiently sort and redirect emergency patients to hospitals with available beds in real time, according to Prof. Titus Beyuo, Board Chairman of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Prof. Beyuo, who also serves as the Member of Parliament for Lambussie, revealed this plan this week amidst growing public concerns over overcrowding at the country’s leading referral hospital.
During an interview he explained that the command center is a vital component of a broader emergency patient management system the government aims to implement to alleviate pressure on major referral facilities.
“We need the ambulance service to relocate their call center to this national command center. We want physicians and other personnel at the command center to perform online sorting of patients and redirect them accordingly,” he stated.
Under the new system, ambulance teams will no longer automatically transport patients to Korle Bu or Komfo Anokye without confirming bed availability. Instead, cases will be routed based on real-time data, minimizing delays that can worsen outcomes for critically ill patients.
Prof. Beyuo emphasized that all of Ghana’s over 200 ambulances must be connected to this platform for the system to operate effectively nationwide, a process that is still underway.
He highlighted that the command center aims to resolve one of the most significant frustrations within Ghana’s emergency response system: patients being rushed to already overcrowded hospitals due to a lack of visibility on bed availability at other facilities.
This new approach is expected to facilitate a more rational distribution of cases across hospitals, ultimately improving patient survival rates.
Prof. Beyuo credited the current Minister of Health for driving the political and administrative efforts necessary to launch the system, describing the minister as “very committed” to expediting the process.
However, no specific timeline has been provided for when the center will become operational. Prof. Beyuo cautioned that the complexity of infrastructure, personnel training, communication networks, and inter-agency coordination makes it challenging to commit to a definitive launch date.