Korle Bu senior staff commend management, board

The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) has expressed confidence that the current board and management of the hospital will turn things around for the good of the country’s premier tertiary health facility.

It said the hospital was now enjoying peace and tranquility because the board and management were working together in the right direction to move the hospital forward.

Addressing an annual general meeting of members of the association in Accra last Wednesday, the President of KOSSA, Mr Charles Ofei-Palm, said members were pleased with the way the current management was handling issues, which, the association said, deserved an ‘A’ rating.

Mr Ofei-Palm explained that the favourable rating was an indication of the positive performance of the current leadership of the hospital and a marked departure from the previous era when the association in 2016, for instance — arrogating to itself the right to rate — passed a vote of no confidence in the then board and management.

He, however, said there was still room for improvement, and, therefore, called on management not to rest on their oars.

Leadership and Governance

Mr Ofei-Palm said the new administration had discharged itself creditably by running an open-door policy, adding that virtually all the board and management members were accessible to staff.

“The diplomatic style of the Board Chairman, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, and his constant engagement with KOSSA leadership with respect to governance matters and some board decisions have enhanced cordial relationship and unlocked resistance and agitation,” he said.

Clinical affairs/issues

He said Korle Bu existed to provide advanced care, research and training, stressing that the board and management had lived this core responsibility and mandate.

Mr Ofei-Palm made particular reference to the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scan machines which, he said, the board and management had restored at the hospital, along with an oxygen plant and ultrasound services.

“These critical equipment were down for a very long time and patients and their relatives had difficulty accessing these services elsewhere,” he said of the MRI and CT scan machines.

He said it was reassuring that over the past year, no clinical unit had been closed down as experienced under the previous boards.

Initiatives

He commended the board and management for the digitisation of the hospital, which, he said, would help reduce revenue leakages, among other benefits.

The KOSSA President also praised the new management and board working out a strategy in order to pay the arrears of staff who were owed at the onset of the Single Spine Salary Structure.

Dr Okoe-Boye

The Board Chairman of the hospital, Dr Okoe Boye, said he was grateful for the confidence reposed in the current management.

He assured the senior staff that the management and staff together could fix the hospital to the standard they desired.

He, however, insisted that no one could fix the facility without the involvement of its stakeholders, and, therefore, asked KOSSA to work with the management for the development of the hospital.

He called on KOSSA to help rebrand Korle Bu as a premium facility.

Infrastructure

He gave an assurance that some infrastructure, including the maternity and surgical blocks, and the road network within the hospital would soon be worked on.

He said the management was also considering a medical insurance for the staff, saying although a proposed 50 per cent repayment of all medical bills of staff had been rejected, management was considering KOSSA’s proposal of 100 per cent repayment.

Writer's email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh