Relatives and patients’ hostel for KATH suffers delay
The timeline for the completion of the patients and relatives hostel facility for the Komfo Anokye Teaching (KATH) in Kumasi has been shifted from 2022 to the first quarter of this year.
This has been as a result of some challenges faced by the contractor working on the project under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement.
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One of the challenges was importing some materials needed for the project in the country on time.
Originally slated to be completed by the first half of last year, the challenges encountered in the importation of tiles to complete the project ran into some difficulties.
Assurance
At a meeting with the new Chief Executive Officer of KATH, on the project, the Managing Director of God Mercy Construction Limited, Kwadwo Kumah, assured the management of the hospital that the challenges were being resolved.
He said particularly with the importation of the materials, alternative arrangements had been made to bring in the materials to enable the project to be completed on the new scheduled date.
Mr Kumah assured the new CEO that, “I have managed to make alternative arrangements and as soon as that materialises, the project would be completed in a maximum of two months.
“I have all the beds, doors, electrical fittings and the other items ready to complete the project and make it fully functional,” he said.
He said but for the challenges he faced last year, the project would have been completed and put into use long ago.
Importance
Before the meeting, the new CEO of KATH, Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah, together with the contractor, toured the facility to acquaint himself with the progress of work on the project.
Having assessed the level of work done, Prof. Addai-Mensah appeal to the contractor not to endeavour to complete the project on the rescheduled timeline.
The KATH CEO said there was the need to complete the project on time so that it could be used by the patients and their relatives who travelled from far to access healthcare in Kumasi.
He said because most of them do have relatives in Kumasi and unable to afford the services of the nearby hotels, they resort to sleeping in the open space at the facility.
He said aside from that endangering their health as they could easily pick up infections, the situation also posed a security risk to the facility.
He, however, commended the contractor for investing in the project to provide safe, comfortable and affordable accommodation to patients and their relatives.
Background
The 194-bed three-storey facility was an initiative of the former CEO, Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso, to provide accommodation for relatives of patients and patients who come from faraway places to seek medical care at KATH.
Most of these people, including some patients who were unable to return to their homes and come back for reviews, sleep in the open at the hospital.
The hostel facility is to provide cheaper and more comfortable accommodation for these people.
After completion, the hospital would no longer allow any relative or patient to sleep in the open at the facility.
