KBTH organises send off for Dr Anyah

The outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Dr Felix Anyah, has said his one-year tenure at the facility was national service, for which reason he did not collect remuneration nor allowance during the period.

During the period, he also did not use any of the hospital’s resources for his personal comfort nor drew fuel on the hospital’s account, he said.

“Rather, I funded some projects at the hospital with my own personal resources,” Dr Anyah said at a send-off party for him at Korle Bu in Accra yesterday, at which he was also to have handed over to the acting CEO, Dr Samuel Asiamah.
Dr Asiamah did not turn up for the ceremony.

“In this one year of service as acting CEO, I have not taken a single cedi as remuneration or allowance. I have neither used the resources of this hospital for my personal comfort nor caused my vehicles to draw fuel on the hospital’s account. I paid my driver, arranged for my security and lived in my private house because I saw this as my contribution to the development of our hospital for Mother Ghana,” he said.

‘Dismissal’

According to Dr Anyah, his ‘dismissal’ was due to his being overage for the position, and at yesterday’s send off, an appreciative staff expressed their gratitude to him for a job well done, even though their unhappiness about his leaving was obvious.

The news of his dismissal, he admitted, was shocking to him, since he heard it on media platforms before receiving his letter.

His reaction to the dismissal was: ”Christ has His purpose and I have loved the public sector, not least winning the Overall Best CEO award in Ghana (public, private sectors), Best CEO in Health Care (public) and best CEO in Health Facilities Management.“

He also said that although he was offered his entitlements, he did not collect them because of his belief that his services at Korle Bu were his contribution to the development of the hospital and Ghana.

Challenge

Dr Anyah stated that Korle Bu was not a difficult place to work but pointed out that the absence of policies contributed to disharmony and poor services at the hospital.

“Korle Bu is not a difficult place. Believe me when I tell you that the staff are compassionate and hardworking. With the right policies that target excellence in service delivery and reward hardworking staff accordingly, industrial instability shall be history,” he said.

“I hand over in love because Korle Bu has to move on in love and unity. I wish to thank you all for the assistance given me during this one year of national service as acting CEO of KBTH,” he said.

Achievements

Dr Anyah recalled that in his first meeting with the Health Minister, he had talked about projects, including an oxygen plant, telephone and ICT projects, adding that in the absence of a board for the past one year, he and his team managed to restore the oxygen supply system to generate oxygen within and reduce the dependence on vendors.

He said a digital telephone system was installed at the facility that had improved communication there, while the team also extensively deployed ICT network infrastructure towards the digitisation of operations and processes at Korle Bu.

“We also installed the security radio communication system with handsets, in addition to motorbikes to facilitate the operations of security men in policing the facility and restored security lighting on the main streets within the hospital. We bought anaesthetic medications at crucial times to save lives and ensure service delivery was not disrupted,” he pointed out.

Way forward

On the way forward, Dr Anyah said one that would make the hospital a medical tourism hub was acquiring a software that would completely digitise operations, billing, revenue collection and bed management.

He said the hospital needed to work with the Ministry of Health, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and other stakeholders on several policies which were vague and yet affected its smooth running, marketability and profitability.

Delivering a goodwill message to Dr Anyah, the Head of the Accident and Orthopedics Department at Korle Bu, Dr Frederick Kwarteng, said he was of the belief that the hospital had shaken off its numerous challenges until Dr Anyah’s sudden dismissal.

“He almost completed a new emergency unit which was found to be unusable after it was handed over. Its use will commence in July 2018,” he said.
Dr Kwarteng appealed to Dr Anyah not to abandon the hospital, in spite of what had happened.