I’m not prepared to fail – Addai Mensah tells KATH union  

The Ag. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah, has declared his determination to mobilize all available human and material resources, to reposition the hospital as the preferred facility in the provision of tertiary healthcare services, training and research in the sub-region.

He stressed that he was not prepared to fail.

According to him, the hospital was endowed with highly trained, qualified and experienced professionals whose collective know-how and input he was determined to seek and harness to further transform the hospital into a leading medical centre of excellence.

Prof. Addai-Mensah these statements when he held separate meetings with the executives of the various unions and associations at the hospital.

The meetings, attended by other Directors of the hospital, was part of a programme to formally introduce himself to the key stakeholders at the hospital and to seek their support and suggestions on the best ways to move the hospital forward.

Prof. Addai-Mensah noted that, unlike Greater Accra which has multiple options when it comes to the availability of specialist healthcare, the same could not be said for Ashanti Region even though the two regions have roughly the same population.

“This hospital takes referrals from 13 out of the 16 regions and as the only tertiary medical facility in this part of the country, it would be unconscionable for us to look on for it to fail because the consequences would be dire”, he intoned.

Prof. Addai-Mensah, therefore, appealed to the executives of the unions and associations at the hospital to fully support him in the execution of his change agenda for the hospital and promised to consult and involve them in every step of the way.

“I pledge my total commitment to the maintenance of an open door policy, under which all stakeholders would have unfettered access to my office in a manner that would not undermine the existing communication structures, but will still ensure speedy flow of information on key issues of concern at the hospital” he stated.

Prof. Addai-Mensah cautioned that, the task ahead was an onerous one and might involve the taking of very difficult decisions and the possible inadvertent stepping on some toes; stressing that it was not going to be business as usual.

“We will all need to put our best foot forward in the discharge of our duties, because this hospital is the only one we have and we owe it a duty to further improve its operations, so that it can serve us and our numerous clients a lot better than it has been in the last couple of years.

Prof. Addai-Mensah disclosed that to improve monitoring and supervision as well as operational efficiency and flow of information, he has caused a Directors’ weekend duty roster to be instituted under which specific Directors would be expected to be present at the hospital during such periods.

The measure, he explained, was part of ways to ensure high level management and physical presence at the hospital during both weekdays and weekends and to help to address any leadership gaps in the system.

Prof. Addai-Mensah also promised to make the separate meetings with the executives a quarterly affair for the first time in the recent history of the hospital, so as to bridge any communication gaps between management and all the key stakeholders at the hospital.

The executives of the various associations and unions expressed gratitude to the new Ag. CEO for the speed with which he met them, promising to do everything possible in their power to ensure that he enjoys a successful tenure.

The executives took turns to raise other issues of concerns to their members among which were low morale due to lack of motivation, inadequate further training opportunities, lack of working space, lack of recognition and equal opportunities for headships.

Among the groups that the Ag. CEO and his management team met were the hospital’s branch of Health Accounting Staff Association of Ghana (HASAG), Health Services Workers Union (HSWU) and the Komfo Anokye Pharmacists Association (KAPA).

The rest were the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) and the Certified Registered Anaesthetists (CRA).