Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, has once more expressed support for the transfer of the military land next to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in order to expedite construction projects for the facility.
According to Otumfuo, KATH, the only tertiary hospital in this region of the country, plays a crucial part in the country’s healthcare delivery system and deserves all the resources it needs to continue developing and fulfill its duty to provide care.
As the Omanhene of the Bompata Traditional Council and Board Chairman of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Otumfuo Osei Tutu II made this statement to a group of hospital board members led by Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng, who also paid him a courtesy visit at the Manhyia Palace to introduce the hospital’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), during the visit.
On December 1, 2022, Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah, the new CEO and a former dean of the College of Health Sciences’ Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), took over.
The Asantehene stated that he had received a report from the committee he established regarding the release of the military land adjacent to the hospital and that he was of the opinion that the hospital should not be responsible for the cost of moving the remaining facilities on it to the current military base at Nyankerenyiase.
In order to get the land released to KATH as soon as possible for its expansion projects, the Asantehene said, “I have already started discussions with the President and other stakeholders on the need for the government to find the necessary funding to cover the complete relocation of the Military to their Nyankyereniase base.
Given that the hospital serves as a last resort for the residents of a wide catchment area, the Asantehene advised management to look into ways to further improve the hospital’s equipment inventory so that it could offer the entire range of specialized clinical services to the general public.
When I receive a list of the urgently needed equipment the hospital needs in order to provide comprehensive expert care, I will be ready to advocate for the hospital in this direction, the Asantehene promised.
The reaction Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has so far received regarding the performance of the new CEO was heartening and encouraging, and he urged him to carry on the good work he has begun.
Professor Addai-Mensah thanked the Asantehene for his assistance and good advice given to him since taking office.
He claimed that with the backing of the board and administration, he had started a number of initiatives to enhance staff discipline, the standard of patients’ specialist clinical treatment, and the hospital’s physical infrastructure.
Improvements in patient care at the hospital have been made through the implementation of policies like the Directors’ weekend and holiday duty roster to guarantee executive presence and supervision at all times, the enforcement of timely clinical service start times at consulting rooms, and the beginning of patient payment of hospital bills via momo and POS for the first time in the hospital’s history.
Prof. Addai-Mensah also revealed that as part of an ongoing beautification project, he had successfully lobbied some friends and businesses to help the hospital renovate a number of facilities, including the Doctors’ Flats, the Laundry Unit, and the Ear, Nose, and Throat blocks, which were in poor condition.
As part of the Asantehene’s 25th anniversary legacy project, which will be completed next year, I have also assembled a technical team of engineers and other experts to create a master plan for the thorough renovation of the old “GEE” blocks for the first time since their creation in 1955.
Prof. Addai-Mensah pleaded with the Asantehene to use his clout to restart some of the hospital’s stalled projects, such as the government-funded Maternity and Children’s block and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation-funded Sickle Cell and Blood Centre block.
Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, pharmacist Charles Dontoh, and professor Daniel Ansong, dean of the KNUST School of Medicine and Dentistry, were additional KATH Board members that made up the delegation.
