Ghana: Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Considering Medical Tourism

KORLE-BU TEACHING Hospital (KBTH), the premier health care facility in Ghana could become a centre for medical tourism in Africa under a plan being considered by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Felix Anyah.

According to him, with the infrastructural development and equipment at KBTH coupled with committed and dedicated human resource available, the teaching hospital will soon be throwing its open doors to international visitors.

He was optimistic that with the way medical tourism is thriving in most parts of the world as a viable venture, transforming the state-owned tertiary hospital into one of such facilities will boost revenue for the country.

“We should look at how best we can promote medical tourism. This is what will bring us more money. As at now, 75 percent of our revenue is from NHIS and 25 percent as cash from individual's pockets and in cedis. There are people in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, among other countries, who want to come to Korle-Bu. We have everything but its only management,” the CEO stated.

He was hopeful that when KBTH is able to reposition its brand as the biggest hospital in West Africa, it will become the hub of medical tourism in Africa and will attract clients outside Ghana.

Dr. Anyah disclosed his vision last Wednesday when he hosted the staff of the hospital at a get together dubbed 'CEO's Recognition and Retreat' held at his Holy Trinity SPA and Health Farm at Sogakope in the Volta Region.

Achieving the medical tourism vision, the CEO, who is considering putting his idea before the hospital's Board of Directors soon, said the hospital, as a matter of urgency, needs to improve on some four thematic areas.

He thinks that KBTH needs to be united with an End-To-End Solution (E2ES) to put all the 21 departments and centres of excellence in KBTH on a central software system to facilitate the monitoring of all activities at the various departments.

“Every manager should have a password to review the finances of other departments. You should be able to contribute to what is happening. You should be able to know what is happening at the other end. We need information to grow, like servicing of equipment; what are the disease patterns? Who is going to theatre, among others? Every information must be there and transparent and people should benefit from what they have put in,” he stated.

Another problem affecting KBTH, the CEO observed, is the unavailability of a Legislative Instrument (L.I) to put an end to unnecessary discontent at the hospital, adding that the hospital should be able to get an LI within the shortest possible time.

“For 21 years we have had ACT 525 without an LI; which means there is nothing to activate the Act, otherwise, the act is just there and everybody is interpreting it anyhow. If you have an Act, there must be an LI; therefore we must ensure that this LI comes very fast to address the unnecessary discontent at the hospital,” he emphasized.

The KBTH boss also believed that the tertiary hospital has a directional problem which must be taken care of immediately, adding that “I am optimistic that together we are turning a new page.”

Dr. Anyah called for a good management-staff relationship imbued with God driven passion, vision oriented and transparency to ensure that people get the benefits of what they put into the hospital.

“I am sure the Lord will guide me as the one who will restore Korle-Bu. Today, I think the myth is broken, I think that the myth that Korle-Bu is made up of people who are always revolting as if Korle-Bu has people who are never satisfied, the myth that it has staff who are not prepared to work; that myth is broken”, he said.

He believed that with the right management approach, KBTH will excel at the international level.

The last thematic area touched on by the CEO was the need for the Ministry of Health to take a second look at matters surrounding project and project management at the hospital.

He explained that “Any project which is for KBTH should be Korle-Bu driven and not Ministry of Health driven – Ministry of Health should be the policy maker. We are spending unnecessarily on projects and maintenance which is not right and not the way to go and we must change that. It is not that Korle-Bu people are bad but the people managing the projects are outside the hospital.”

He, however, expressed confidence in the staff of the hospital who he described as 'dedicated and committed' who are prepared to work to make the health facility better and to make him achieve his vision.

“My six-month work experience at the hospital has revealed that Korle-Bu is made up of people who have the hospital at heart and people who have toiled to make the hospital better and those people need to benefit from their efforts,” the CEO posited.


Source: dailyguideafrica.com