Media urged to partner KATH

Professor Ohene Adjei, Chief Executive of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has invited the media to partner the hospital to deliver optimally as it grapples with enormous constraints to provide excellent healthcare to its ever increasing clientele.

He said this can be done by way of positive reportage to attract sponsorship to expand the hospital or meet some of its immediate needs.

Prof Ohene Adjei was speaking at a meeting of the hospital management staff and a section of the media in Kumasi on Thursday, to help enhance media relations.

The call comes in the wake of recent negative media reportage about the facility, which according to him, discourages workers who are sparing no efforts to do their best under such difficult constraints to meet the health needs of their patients.

He said as the only referral centre for the Northern Sector of the country, KATH also sees patients from neighbouring Burkina Faso, Togo and La Cote D’Ivoire with its limited resources in the face of growing number of patients.

“The situation which has given rise to the perennial congestion at the facility is compounded by the fact that there is no regional hospital and the other public health facilities designated as District Hospitals, which could serve as a backup, to ease the congestion,” he said.

The meeting was held at the instance of the Ashanti Branch of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) as part of its objectives to identify key institutions in the region and dialogue with them to find areas of support to help bring development to the region.

Prof Ohene Adjei asked the media to support the hospital for better performance, adding that, the doors of the hospital are open to the press to cross-check all information, and asked the media to be more circumspect with its reportage about facility.

He reiterated calls to the Government to help resettle the military, who are still occupying the fore-court of the multi-million Cedi Eye Centre to pave way for the centre to operate fully.

Mr Listowel Yesu Bukarson, Regional Chairman of the GJA, asked the press not to publicize reportage that could dent the corporate image of certain institutions because of the essential services they provide.

“I admit that as human institutions, they can have flaws, but those do not have to be trumpeted on rooftops to denigrate them and overshadow the good things they also do,” he said.