Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Doctor Dies Under Tragic Circumstances, Absence Of Crucial Lab Blamed

• Dr. Kwame Adu Ofori, an Emergency Physician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, died on June 5 from a cardiac arrest
• The doctor's death led to concerns about inadequate resources at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
• Reports indicate that Ofori could have been saved if the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and a catheterisation laboratory

The death of a doctor at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital from a heart attack has renewed calls for the provision of a catheterisation laboratory.

Joy News reported that Dr. Kwame Adu Ofori, an Emergency Physician at the hospital, died over the weekend when his colleague doctors attempted to save him but lacked the crucial catheterisation laboratory to treat an obstruction in one of the blood vessels.

The catheterisation laboratory would have afforded staff a specialised area to perform a minimally invasive procedure to diagnose and treat the obstructed blood vessel.

The CEO of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, said Ofori was initially stabilised and arrangements were made to transport him to Accra.

“We arranged a team of doctors and special care nurses for him. They were in touch when they got to Accra, but he unfortunately died on their way to the hospital."

Ofori was noted as someone who contributed actively to providing emergency medical care to critically ill patients.

Baidoo said the hospital had made please in the past for the provision of the catheterisation laboratory.

“When a delegation from the Bank of Ghana visited us, I made a plea to them to help us construct a CATH lab. They’ve asked that we submit a proposal to be sent to the governor."

In general, Baidoo said the hospital needed urgent retooling to improve healthcare delivery.

Past struggles of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has been the subject of complaints about inadequate tooling in the past.

Medical doctors at the hospital's Oncology Department went on strike in June 2024 to protest the months-long delay in fixing a linear accelerator system used for radiotherapy services.

The machine, which is used to diagnose and treat cancer patients, broke down in October 2023, and despite doctors' attempts to get it fixed and operational, their efforts proved futile.

It took negotiations with the doctors to end the strike.

Staff threatened strike over conditions of service

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital staff threatened to strike in 2024 to protest their poor working conditions and acute accommodation challenges.

However, the Ashanti regional minister at the time, Simon Osei-Mensah, said the only way for the health workers to get better accommodation was for them to vacate their current bungalows.

He assured that plans were underway to construct new blocks for the health workers.

Komfo Anokye run out of haemophilia medicines

In August 2024, YEN.com.gh reported that parents of haemophiliac children were in serious distress following a three-month shortage of lifesaving medicines at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The parents blamed the Food and Drug Authority for delaying to release of the documents needed to facilitate the importation of the medicines.

These medicines contain blood complements to support haemophiliac children in blood clotting.

Source: YEN.com.gh