American-Ghanaian comedian Michael Blackson has levelled serious allegations against the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) following the death of his mother, accusing the facility of misdiagnosis, poor patient care and placing financial gain above the welfare of patients.

In a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, Blackson described UGMC as “the worst hospital in Ghana,” alleging that doctors and nurses repeatedly failed to correctly diagnose his mother’s condition while recommending costly treatments.

“To the University of Ghana Medical Centre where my mom suffered the last month of her life, I’ll like to tell you in my opinion that you are the worst hospital in Ghana. Your staff, meaning nurses and doctors, have no clue what they are doing and the only thing your hospital cares about is collecting money,” he wrote.

The comedian claimed the hospital misdiagnosed his mother on several occasions, resulting in expensive treatments that he believes were unnecessary.

“This University of Ghana Medical Centre misdiagnosed my mom so many times but also recommended the most expensive treatments to make sure they sucked enough money out of me,” he alleged.

Blackson also criticised the attitude of some health workers at the facility, accusing them of showing little compassion toward patients and their families.

“The University of Ghana Medical Centre is kinda new and looks beautiful from the outside, but inside are not the best medical personnel. In my opinion, the staff have no sympathy and don’t give a damn about the patients,” he stated.

He further alleged that his sister was involved in a physical altercation with a male nurse during his mother’s admission and claimed the nurse later reported the incident to the police while the family was at the hospital identifying her body.

“My sister even had a physical altercation with one of the male nurses and this [person] called the police a week later while we were there identifying my mom’s body,” he said.

According to Blackson, several people later told him they had also lost relatives at the same hospital.

“When I told a few people where she died, they all told me they lost their loved ones there. University of Ghana Medical Centre and all our African hospitals need to find a place in their hearts to put people’s lives ahead of money,” he wrote.

The comedian further alleged that hospital officials were quick to contact him whenever payments were due but that doctors never updated him directly on his mother’s medical condition.

“University of Ghana Medical Centre called me every time payment was due, but the doctors never once called me to tell me how my mom was doing,” he claimed.

Blackson said his family spent about GH¢250,000 on his mother’s treatment over a one-month period before they were informed that she had contracted an infection and died.

“In one month they collected about 250k cedis and then told me she caught an infection and died. When she died they called me to tell me I had a balance I had to settle before they could tell me the cause of death,” he alleged.

He also claimed that after two weeks of treatment, the family considered transferring his mother to another hospital but were advised against it because of her condition.

“I realised after two weeks at that hospital we wanted to take my mom out and as soon as we told them that and they knew they were about to miss out on some money, they told us she couldn’t breathe and she needed tubes installed in her so she can’t be moved,” he wrote.

Blackson said he had considered taking legal action over what he described as repeated diagnostic failures but expressed scepticism about the pace of Ghana’s judicial process.

“I could go on and on about the University of Ghana Medical Centre and would love to sue them for the few missed diagnoses, but it’s in Ghana so I’ll be wasting my time because by the time I see a judge I’m sure I’ll be in my early 90s.”

He also advised Ghanaians living abroad who return home after retirement to consider travelling overseas periodically for medical check-ups.

“Our country is beautiful and all parents love to move back home after they retire abroad, but my best suggestion is for them to fly out to Europe or America at least once a year for their yearly medical check-up.”

Blackson concluded by accusing the hospital of prioritising revenue generation over patient care.

The University of Ghana Medical Centre had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.