WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) OF THE KOMFO ANOKYE TEACHING HOSPITAL (KATH), PROF. OTHCERE ADDAI-MENSAH, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE HOSPITAL’S 2023 END OF YEAR PERFORMANCE REVIEW CONFERENCE HELD IN KUMASI ON WEDNESDAY, 20TH MARCH, 2024
NANA BOARD CHAIRMAN-AMB. NANA EFFAH-APENTENG
MEMBERS OF THE KATH BOARD
CHIEF EXECUTIVES AND OFFICIALS OF INVITED TEACHING HOSPITALS
KATH DIRECTORS
THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES
THE PRO VICE CHANCELLOR-KNUST-GUEST SPEAKER
OFFICIALS FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
THE METRO DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES
HEADS OF DIRECTORATES AND UNITS-KATH
MEMBERS OF DIRECTORATE MANAGEMENT TEAMS
MEMBERS OF THE PRESS
DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED
Good morning.
It gives me great honour to welcome all of you to the hospital’s 2023 End of Year Performance Review Conference. We give God all the glory for making it possible for us to assemble here to witness and participate in one of the most important events on the corporate calendar of the hospital. I am grateful to you for taking time off your busy schedules to join as we evaluate our performance for the year 2023. We are looking forward to benefitting from your active participation and unique insights as we dedicate the day to an impassioned assessment of our outputs for last year with the expectation that the lessons learnt and insights gained would guide and enhance our endeavours in the current operational year.
Nana Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the chosen theme for this year’s conference is “THE NEW KATH AGENDA-RECALIBRATING EFFORTS FOR ENHANCED HEALTH SERVICE OUTCOMES: THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS”. The choice of this theme has been informed by the need for constant review of the operations of the hospital as a way of creating an ecosystem that engenders regular appraisal of strategies, policies and programmes for the purposes of optimizing specialist healthcare service, training and research in line with the mandate of the hospital. As a hospital committed to the continuous enhancement of health service outcomes, we believe that the theme for this conference is apt and will act as a fitting guiding light as we go about our operations in 2024.
Nana Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, in the course of 2023, management with the support of the Board and other stakeholders, launched a number of initiatives to improve the infrastructure base, operational systems, governance structures, services, staff morale, supervision and discipline at the hospital. These interventions were part of the new agenda to enhance service outcomes through improved productivity, accountability, staff capacity and welfare, patients’ satisfaction, resource mobilization, cost reduction, retooling and research capacity. The net effect of the aforementioned interventions has been the general decline in the number of deaths and increases in number of admissions, surgeries, OPD attendance, patients experience and revenue.
From the available data, Nana Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Specialist O.P.D. cases registered during the period was 262,917 as against 256,371 recorded in 2022. This resulted in the daily Specialist OPD attendance at the hospital moving from 1,041 patients per day in 2022 to 1,086 in 2023. Admissions stood at 30,133 as against 29,790 recorded in the preceding year. Surgical operations recorded in 2023 were 18,607 with that of 2022 being 17,215. Radiotherapy services moved to 5,938 in 2023 from 5,487 in 2022. Emergency admissions also rose to 26,298 in 2023 from 25,391 recorded in 2022. Physiotherapy services saw an increase from 12,599 in 2022 to 17,634. Radiological services witnessed its highest jump in five years with the 2022 output of 57,915 cases rising to 62,158. Laboratory services also went up from 236,428 in 2022 to 247,903. The hospital’s patients’ satisfaction rate also improved from 80.7 per cent in 2022 to 85.2 per cent in 2023. There was, however, a reduction in the number of deliveries from 5,429 in 2022 to 4,729 in 2023.
Nana Board Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, in line with the quest to upgrade infrastructure to boost quality of service delivery and patients’ experience at the hospital, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, during the year under review launched a major initiative to comprehensively renovate and modernise the “GEE” blocks made up of blocks “A,B,C and D”. These blocks, constructed in 1955 to serve as the main inpatient facilities for the hospital, have never been renovated but for the intervention of the Asantehene. Of the 10,000.00 United States Dollars required for the project, 38 per cent had been realized in pledges and cash donations thanks to the generous donations of Justmoh Constructions Limited and Joshob Constructions Limited among others. On behalf of the Board, management, staff and patients of the hospital, I wish to convey my heartfelt appreciation to the Asantehene for his uncommon leadership in spearheading the execution of this project.
Due to the acute lack of space at hospital, the renovation works is likely to cause inconveniences to staff and patients. May I take this opportunity to implore all those who will be affected to bear with us. As the sole tertiary health care provider in this part of the country, KATH has more than served the people of Ghana well over the decades and it is our humble expectation that we will all contribute to make this project a reality.
Nana Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the introduction of initiatives such as the introduction of the payment of patients’ bills by Momo and POS has enabled patients and their benefactors to settle bills from everywhere in the world through MoMo. In pursuance of the same objective, in conjunction with Ghana Post, home delivery of medicines to chronic but stable patients was also introduced. This was to save such clients from the time, inconvenience and drudgery of commuting to the hospital just for their refill medicines with all the attendant transportation risks.
In addition to the above, a Centralised Intravenous Additive Services (CIVAS) was also introduced by the Pharmacy Unit of the Child Health Directorate to make live-saving but expensive medications readily, affordably and safely available to needy patients at the hospital. This new service has helped to drastically reduce the cost of medications and infections and maximized therapeutic outcomes by ensuring the delivery of appropriate doses as well as prevented misidentifications and overdoses thereby saving lives. All these interventions have helped to enhance health service outcomes at the hospital in 2023.
Nana Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, on the back of the tremendous improvement in all areas of the hospital’s operations in 2023, management with the support of the Board, will this year continue to invest in the adoption of innovations and conduct of operational research as part of the overall strategy to optimize the delivery of tertiary healthcare services at the hospital. Management’s commitment in this direction can be seen from the historic introduction of Thrombolysis services as part of routine stroke care at the hospital. This novel service is aimed at saving patients brought to the hospital in time from disabilities and possible death from strokes. Steps will also be taken to strengthen the Corporate and Special Services Unit (CoSSU) during the year to allow for busy patients and other corporate executives the opportunity to assess specialist services at the hospital at their convenience. In addition to the above arrangement, all clinical directorates and unit are being encouraged to find innovative ways to enhance access to quality clinical services the space constraints at the hospital, notwithstanding. The Psychiatry Unit has blazed the trail by being the first to introduce a morning clinic starting at 6:00 a.m. and an afternoon one starting from 12:00 p.m.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, also thanks to the support of partners such as Nuece Ghana Paints Industry Limited, Osons Chemist, Jemfi Ventures and Alex Nuamah Enterprise, the hospital during the year under year underwent the largest facelift in its recent history with many rundown facilities receiving some repairs and paintings as part of an ongoing beautification exercise. As a result of this, facilities such as the Doctors’ Flats, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Laundry, Breast Care, Finance, Human Resources blocks and the fence wall of the Family Medicine Directorate all which were in a very depressing state have been given a major facelift. We are indeed grateful to all the aforementioned partners for the support and hope that we can continue to count on the benevolence of other public-spirited individuals and institutions as we strive to improve the operational environment at the hospital for improved patient care.
Nana Board Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, among the key projects that would engage the attention of management for the rest of the year will be the completion of a number of on-going projects including the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Centre, Patients Relatives Hostel and the expansion and refurbishment of the Dialysis Centre. The hospital expects a major improvement in its dialysis services soon when the three new machines with a six-month supply of consumables procured at close to Ghc1.6m are delivered next month. Similarly, surgical and physiotherapy services are also primed to receive a major boost with the completion of the renovation of the Main Theatre and the Physiotherapy Centre at the combine cost of over Ghc3m. The tender processes have also commenced for the construction of a Pharmacy Complex in phases at the cost of $2.6mas part of measures to improve pharmaceutical services at the hospital.
Nana Board Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, before I bring my address to a close, I wish to thank all our stakeholders for their diverse support which helped the hospital to register very impressive results last year. My humble appeal is that you all strive to continue to support in whatever way possible since as stakeholders, we have a collective role to play in making sure that the operations of the hospital are properly recalibrated for enhanced delivery of quality care to the public. Together, we can make KATH the model tertiary health care provider we all want.
May the Good Lord richly bless you for your attention. Thank you.
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