KATH hires doctors to fill gap

Twenty-six medical doctors have been engaged at a fee, on a temporary basis, to reduce the medical doctors’ deficit at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.

The management of the top health facility has also managed to strike a one-year deal with 14 house officers, who were part of 150 doctors, scheduled to leave the hospital after the completion of their stay.

In addition, KATH is expecting a whopping 130 house officers to replace the 150 who are leaving the hospital, latest by October 1, after their one-year stay.

Kwame Frimpong, the PRO, told THE PUBLISHER that the swift arrangement made by management have brought immense relief to medical officials at facility.

150 Doctors Leave

KATH suffered a major setback in their operations when 150 house officers, who had completed their one-year housemanship, left last week to continue their second-year in various districts across the country.

Ideally, the Ministry of Health (MOH) was supposed to arrange for their replacement but this was delayed due to late financial clearance.

In the face of the mountainous challenge management was compelled to focus mainly on emergency and in-patient cases, and referring non-critical cases to the peripheral hospitals in the city.

Mr. Frimpong said as a temporary measure, the Ministry ordered KATH to talk to 27 out of the 150 house officers who were leaving to stay and work for one more year “but only 14 accepted to stay”.

He said management therefore decided to use its own funds to hire another 26 doctors on a temporary basis, who in addition to the 14 staying doctors, would hold the fort until the next batch of house officers arrive.

He disclosed that the MOH has assured that 130 house officers would be released to start work at KATH on October 1, 2017, adding; “the 26 that we have engaged would leave when the 130 doctors eventually arrive”.

Mr. Frimpong indicated that the new arrangement had since restored normalcy at KATH.