Kumasi, Jan.29, GNA – The management of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, says limited land space is inhibiting the expansion of facilities at the hospital.
Dr. Oheneba Owusu-Danso, Chief Executive Officer of the facility said the hospital was getting a lot of investors and collaborators interested in bringing projects, but were constrained by adequate land space.
Speaking to journalists after leading the management members to inspect some ongoing projects at the hospital, he said the land for the expansion of the hospital was an important issue, which needed to be resolved as quickly as possible to make way for more projects and facilities for the hospital.
He explained that although the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the government were working hard on securing more lands for the hospital, management was also doing its part to ensure that the process was quickened.
Dr Owusu-Danso said talks were ongoing with the military to have some of their new projects built at their new site to make some of the land available for expansion of the hospital.
Dr Owusu Danso was hopeful that by the end of the year, the land issues would be resolved for more projects to take place and expand the second largest referral facility in Ghana.
Emphasizing on how serious the land issue was, he said due to lack of space, management had to use the top floor of one of the blocks to construct the new Assisted Reproductive Therapy Center, which was nearing completion.
“With the expansion of the psychiatric services, space is restricted, we are currently doing a maximum of 13 beds, we want to expand it into a 30-40 bed facility and the only way is to raise another block on top of the existing block.
The multipurpose center for the management of cleft patients and training of nurses and doctors for the whole of the African region, the hospital has had to sacrifice a bungalow to get a small land area for them to construct a six-floor structure.
If there was enough land the cost of construction could have been much less”, he observed.
Dr Owusu-Danso told the media that the contractor at site for the new Children and Maternity block had requested for additional land area for drainage systems adding that if additional land was acquired, it would ease the technical management of waste.
Among the projects visited were expansion works to increase the Dialysis Center from five to 25 bed capacity, and the construction of a190-bed capacity Patient-Relative Hostel for the hospital.
GNA
KOM/GRB
