KBTH: 64-bed emergency unit overstretched as CEO seeks 200-bed facility

The Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Yakubu Seidu Adam, has appealed to Parliament’s Select Committee on Health to help secure a new 200-bed Accident and Emergency Centre to ease pressure on the hospital’s existing 64-bed facility.

Dr Adam said the hospital, which has a total bed capacity of nearly 2,000, needs a larger emergency centre to manage the number of patients it receives from across Ghana.

“We want you to help us to build a new Accident and Emergency Centre with at least 200-bed capacity,” he told the committee.

He cautioned, however, that increasing the number of beds alone would not completely solve the country’s persistent “no bed syndrome”.

Dr Adam said the hospital was working to ensure that emergency patients did not remain in the unit for more than 24 hours by transferring them to medical, surgical and other departments as soon as possible.

He explained that Korle Bu serves as a major referral centre for emergencies nationwide, with patients arriving from different regions.

“There’s no region I have not received a call from. There’s an emergency here, emergency there,” he said, appealing to Parliament to support the proposed expansion.