Source: graphics
Due to their involvement in patient extortion, two doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi have been suspended.
Each of the two received a one-month suspension from work. One has already completed his suspension, whereas the other will do so as of right now.
When he paid the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, a courtesy call at his palace in Manhyia, Kumasi, yesterday, Professor Otchere Yaw Addai-Mensah, the KATH’s CEO, revealed this.
He made the trip to the Asantehene to present himself and the hospital’s administration after taking office six months ago.
As part of attempts to make the hospital more customer-focused, Prof. Addai-Mensah said to the Asantehene that when he took over the management of the facility, his first goal was to introduce discipline into the work ethics of the facility.
He pointed out that several of the clinics were also running late, which increased the time that patients had to wait.
With the assistance of the Board of Directors, the CEO of KATH claimed that steps had been put in place, and all clinics now “start work at 8 a.m.”
Prof. Addai-Mensah claimed that directors at the hospital had been rostered so that there were always two directors on duty every weekend and on statutory holidays in order to maintain effective monitoring and a smooth flow of work.
The CEO added that during his six months in charge, he had been successful in securing funding for a facelift for the KATH doctors’ and nurses’ apartments as well as the introduction of the Point of Sales (POS) and Mobile Money (MoMo) payment systems, which make it simple for patients and their loved ones to pay bills.
However, Prof. Addai-Mensah informed the Asantehene that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC)-sponsored hospital’s Maternal and Baby Unit and the Sickle Cell and Blood Transfusion Centre were no longer being built.
He claimed that no work had been done on any of the projects for about a year and he prayed to the Asantehene to step in to see that the projects were finished.
The CEO outlined another difficulty KATH was encountering, namely finding the money to buy the nearby military area for growth.
Even though the military had agreed to transfer and provide the site to the hospital, Prof. Addai-Mensah claimed that cash was still required to move the military buildings, and “the money involved is quite huge.”
Otumfuo Osei Tutu replied, however, that the military had already been relocated and that the hospital would not be need to pay for the land once more.
The Asantehene declared that the matter had already been resolved and that there was no need for payment in exchange for the land after speaking with the President and the Minister of Defense.
If money were needed, Otumfuo Osei Tutu stated, “maybe to build new schools, but that has to be handled by the Ministry of Defence.”
The Asantehene praised the new CEO for getting off to a strong start and urged him to keep it up.
Otumfuo acknowledged that he had not yet visited the facility but said he had heard about the transformation it had undergone and praised Prof. Addai-Mensah for his accomplishment.
No matter what you do, there will always be individuals who disapprove of you and step on your toes. The Asantehene pleaded, “But if you would have to disappoint two people in order to gratify eight people, go ahead and do it.
The CEO was accompanied by Nana Effah Appenten, the Board Chairman, all of the board members, the Bompatahene, Maxwell Opoku Agyemang, Charles Dontoh, and Prof. Daniel Ansong, the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry.
