KNUST, KATH to strengthen partnership to improve specialist healthcare in Ashanti Region

The Pro vice-chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof Ellis Owusu-Dabo, has stressed the need for the university and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to deepen their collaboration to find more innovative ways of bridging the huge access gap in specialist healthcare services in the Ashanti Region.

He pointed out that, unlike Greater Accra, the Ashanti Region is extremely deprived when it comes to well-established specialist hospitals despite its large population. Therefore, it behooves the two most prestigious institutions in the region to work closer together to address this challenge.

Prof. Owusu-Dabo made these remarks while leading members of the KATH-KNUST joint standing committee to pay a courtesy call on the chief executive officer of KATH, Prof Otchere Addai-Mensah, during a committee meeting held at the hospital yesterday. The committee was established by the authorities of the two institutions to promote greater cooperation and provide a model platform for the prompt redress of issues affecting their relationship.

Prof. Owusu-Dabo, who is also the chairman of the committee, highlighted its instrumental role in streamlining the relationship between the university and KATH since its establishment, working to promote the joint interests of the two institutions. He emphasized the critical need for continued close collaboration to meet the healthcare needs of the region and the country.

“We are the two most prestigious institutions in this part of the country, and we must work together and strengthen each other to deliver on our respective mandates in the areas of clinical training, specialist healthcare services, and research,” he emphasised.

Prof. Owusu-Dabo also commended the CEO for his transformative leadership of the hospital since his assumption of office and urged him to continue to brave the odds to reposition KATH as the leading tertiary hospital in the sub-region.

Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah acknowledged the existing symbiotic relationship between the two institutions, noting that KATH is a teaching hospital by its affiliation with KNUST while the successful accreditation and running of the university’s numerous clinical programs were due in large part to the hospital’s expanse of clinical facilities for hands-on training.

He stated that since his appointment, he has strived to bridge the relationship between KATH and the clinical staff of the university who work at the hospital by taking several steps to ensure equity, as his expectations from them were not lesser than those of the hospital.

Prof. Addai-Mensah expressed satisfaction with the renewed spirit of unity between the two institutions, adding that “as leaders in our respective fields, KATH and KNUST would continue to need each other for years to come and, therefore, we ought to jointly leverage our strengths to improve the quality of healthcare services to the public.”

The Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Christian Agyare, maintained that the university had a long-term view of its partnership with KATH. He announced plans for the university to commence the construction of an ultra-modern office and lecture hall complex at the hospital as part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of its School of Medical Sciences (SMD) next year.

“Even though KNUST is constructing its ultra-modern medical center, its partnership with KATH will continue to be prioritized and strengthened because of the mutually beneficial relationship that has existed between the two institutions over the decades,” Prof. Agyare stated.

Reporting By Jonathan Ofori, Asaase Newsroom, Kumasi

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