Trust Hospital Co. ready to declare first dividend
Trust Hospital Company Limited has expressed its readiness to pay dividend to its sole shareholder, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), for the first time since it was incorporated in 2010.
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After investing so much in infrastructure over the last five years, the General Manager of Trust Hospital Company, Dr Darius Osei, in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the 5th anniversary celebration of the Trust Specialist Hospital, said the management now intended to shift its focus from investments in infrastructure development to the payment of dividends with effect from this year.
“Throughout the years, we have been trying to do this but have been unable to due to the massive investments in infrastructure but we believe it’s now time to pay dividends to our shareholders,” he stated.
“If you look at the Specialist Hospital, it is one of the nine facilities that we have at the moment and all these facilities did not come at a go as they came in different stages from 2009 till now. We have consolidated our infrastructure development and now, we are moving the paradigm shift,” he added.
He said how long the company would stay in operation would depend on its ability to ensure that the investments of its shareholders were bearing fruits, hence its decision to start paying dividends.
Early on, Dr Osei, speaking at the anniversary ceremony, indicated that it was a great achievement to operate a state-of-the-art specialist hospital effectively for the past five years.
He said the pride of any healthcare facility was the ability to provide comprehensive health care; a service where patients could access all their healthcare needs from one place, adding that this was the dream that led him and his team to establish the Specialist Hospital.
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“My dream was to turn the Trust Hospital into a one-stop shop, and how better can this be achieved if not to dream bigger than primary care and move into specialist facility,” he stated.
“You would all attest to the fact that dreams do not happen in a day. Together with the management team, we mapped out a plan and consulted our owners about our idea to have a specialist hospital and today we are here to witness the 5th anniversary of this hospital,” he added.
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The Board Chairman of the company, Dr Addo-Yobo, for his part, said the company had been able to break even after the huge investments in infrastructure over the years and had started making profit.
“Since the hospital was hived off SSNIT, we have not paid any dividend yet but now that we have started making profit, we intend to pay dividend this year because this is what the shareholders expect from us,” he noted.
History
The Trust Hospital was established in 1992 as a not-for-profit health facility to provide health care to SSNIT staff and their dependents. The facility was later upgraded into a full-fledged hospital to extend its services to the general public.
The hospital was, however, incorporated in November 2010 as the Trust Hospital Company Limited.
It currently has three hospitals — The Trust Hospital, The Trust Specialist Hospital and The Trust Mother and Child Hospital - and six satellite clinics.
Although the hospital has been hived off SSNIT and is now standing on its own, SSNIT still remains its sole shareholder.
