Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has announced the rollout of a new, fully state-owned digital health platform, the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), to replace the suspended Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS), assuring Ghanaians that the era of manual medical records is over. This decisive action follows extensive forensic and technical audits conducted by the Ministry, which uncovered serious contractual, technical, and data management breaches under the previous LHIMS arrangement.
The Ministry’s consultants presented findings detailing significant underperformance in the $100 million LHIMS contract, which was initially awarded in 2019 with the goal of connecting 950 health facilities. By the contract’s final expiry in December 2024, only 450 facilities—less than 50 percent completion—had been connected, even though the vendor had already received over $77 million, which represents more than 70 percent of the total contract value.
Further compounding the issues, the audit also uncovered shortages and quality concerns regarding hardware deliveries and installations, leading to an estimated $29 million in unaccounted for or substandard supplies for the state.
Minister Akandoh characterized the vendor’s subsequent refusal to hand over administrative access and Ghana’s critical health data to the state—a situation that caused repeated service disruptions—as “pure blackmail.” In response to these severe lapses and to ensure continuity of care, the Ministry has developed and deployed GHIMS, a system built entirely under state ownership and management. A key feature of the new platform is the introduction of a secure National Health Information Exchange, a mechanism intended to prevent any single vendor from monopolizing Ghana’s health data in the future.
GHIMS is also designed for comprehensive interoperability, integrating seamlessly with the National Health Insurance Authority database to allow for real-time, nationwide access to patient records.
The Minister outlined a four-week phased rollout plan for the new system, which will commence with teaching and regional hospitals in the first week, followed by subsequent phases for district hospitals, polyclinics, health centers, and CHPS compounds. In a final measure to address the previous failures, the Minister confirmed that the findings from the audit have been formally referred to the Attorney-General and relevant state security agencies for legal advice and appropriate action.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
