The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in the Ashanti Region has praised the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) for its significant contribution to specialised healthcare delivery, saying the Fund’s impact within its first year feels like that of an institution that has supported the hospital for 70 years.
The commendation followed the presentation of medical equipment and consumables worth more than GH¢4 million to KATH by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
The donation includes a fully equipped Olympus endoscopy tower for gastroscopy and colonoscopy, two jaundice meters, and assorted respiratory, oxygen therapy and anaesthesia consumables.
The items formed part of a larger consignment donated to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund by Lifecare Technology Ghana.
Presenting the equipment, Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Adwoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, said the intervention formed part of activities marking the Fund’s first anniversary and demonstrated its commitment to providing health facilities with essential equipment to improve patient care and save lives.
“We have done a lot for Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and we are ready to do more,” she said.
Ms Darko-Opoku explained that KATH was selected to receive the equipment because of the hospital’s urgent need for an endoscopy system and other essential consumables.
She also commended the KATH Board, management and staff for their support and collaboration with the Trust Fund since its establishment.
For KATH, the intervention came at a critical time as the hospital’s existing endoscopy machine is more than 10 years old.
The Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo, disclosed that management had been considering spending about GH¢800,000 to replace the ageing equipment.
He said the donation would allow the hospital to redirect funds earmarked for the replacement into other critical areas of healthcare delivery.
“This has really reduced my blood pressure because the monies we were going to spend on these essential items can now be channeled into other services to make sure we deliver premium services to Ghanaians we serve,” Dr Baidoo said.
Beyond the latest donation, KATH highlighted the construction of a cardiac intervention centre as one of the Trust Fund’s most significant interventions at the hospital.
Dr Baidoo said despite KATH’s 70-year history, the hospital had never had such a facility, but support from the Ghana Medical Trust Fund had now brought the long-awaited project within reach.
He described the development as a major boost to the hospital’s capacity to provide specialised cardiac care to patients.
Reflecting on the Trust Fund’s contribution during its first year, the KATH CEO said its interventions had made an impact far beyond expectations.
“The interventions the Trust Fund is providing make us feel you have been in existence for 70 years because your impact within just a year feels like you have been here forever,” he said.
The latest donation adds to a series of interventions by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund at KATH over the past year, particularly in the provision of specialised medical equipment and support for the cardiac intervention centre.
KATH said the interventions were helping to address longstanding gaps in specialised healthcare delivery and strengthen the hospital’s capacity to provide critical care to patients.
