Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, Chief Executive Officer of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has described the reasons behind a petition opposing the extension of his tenure as “bizarre”.
He attributed the petition to the introduction of new accountability system checks, which have been met with resistance from some individuals.
On Friday, July 26, 2024, six health unions jointly petitioned the Ministry of Health against extending Dr. Ampomah’s tenure as CEO of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
The unions comprised the Health Service Workers Union, Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professionals of Korle Bu chapter, Health Accounting Staff Association of Ghana, Korle Bu Senior Staff Association, Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association and Ghana Registered Nursing and Midwives Association (GRNMA).
In a statement, the unions highlighted several reasons for their opposition, including inefficiencies in the CEO’s absence, resulting in operational paralysis, delays in approvals leading to shortages of essential supplies and conflict of interest, with the CEO’s interests conflicting with hospital goals amongst others.
The unions cautioned that extending the CEO’s tenure would be detrimental to the hospital’s progress and compromise the well-being of both staff and patients.
During an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, the Korle-Bu CEO said, “I have avoided coming into the public domain because there are a lot of things that have happened within this four-year period. Somebody said that if you fight corruption, corruption will fight you back. And so, for me, some of these things do not surprise me at all.
“Look at the first reason that was given- we are a health care service delivery organisation, when have you heard that Korle-Bu patients are not been seen or operations are not being done because the CEO is absent? And so this is very bizarre. We have introduced some serious accountability system checks, of course, nobody is going to be happy with accountability. That is one of the things, but I have refrained from [commenting]. I can give you lots of examples.”
Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah expressed doubts about the authenticity of the petition against him, questioning why the petitioners failed to sign their names.
He accused the petitioners of engaging in “shadowboxing” by hiding their true identities from the public.
Dr Ampomah revealed that both the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) and the Health Service Workers Union initially denied knowledge of the petition, with the latter later issuing an apology.
“Was there any name? [in the petition], why were there no names? Anybody can come up with this document. If you want to pen such a serious document, then at least you add your name, so that we know who we are addressing.
“But at the moment, it’s like shadowboxing. You see some positions. Because the GRNMA President came out to say look, we [they] don’t have anything [asuch], the Health Service Workers Union, their General Secretary was in my office and said look, I apologise to you, we don’t have anything and this is not the thinking of the union.
“Every one of the unions, when my Human Resources contacted them. The executives said this took us [them] by surprise, we [they] have not had any meetings or discussions whatsoever to come out with anything like this. It’s probably one or two people within the unions who have their own agenda.”
Background
Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, as stated in a letter from the Presidency, signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, and copied to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, on Friday, September 4, 2020.
His appointment took effect on October 5, 2020. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Ampomah served as the Director of the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
