Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The government owes Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) GH₵5 million for the treatment of persons with COVID-19, ranking member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed.
“After Government had announced that treatment of COVID-19 was free and people had gone through the process, government still owes KBTH GH₵5 million.
“Meanwhile we have spent not less than GH₵23 billion on COVID-19 yet we owe KBTH,” he stated.
Mr. Akandoh stated that government should account for every money they have spent and give a break from the entire expenditure on COVD -19.
He was speaking to the media after a visit to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to ascertain the state of the hospital in Accra last Thursday.
“Frontline health workers who were also promised some allowances and insurances have not been paid yet after the huge amount claimed to have been spent on COVID-19,” he added.
He emphasised that the critical place the government must spend more money was in the health sector because health was a delicate issue but a major problem in the country.
“There are some basic requirements which workers could have been enjoying in a hospital such as KBTH but that is not provided, the right thing must be done to combat the challenges faced in KBTH, including stalled projects which need to be completed to benefit all individuals,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBTH, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, confirmed that indeed there was a debt of GH₵5 million and was hopeful the money would be released immediately.
“We handled patients with COVID-19 here for free as government had announced and there are some outstanding debts, we are still engaging the ministry of finance to settle it so we would be able to still provide care to our patients,” he said.
Dr. Ampomah further appealed to the select committee to facilitate the approval process of the adjustments and review of their fees and charges since there have been fluctuations in rates because it was beyond the control of the institution.
“The hospital would be 100 years next year so we hope that all ongoing projects would soon be completed to reduce the crowd in the hospital and mortality rate in the country,” he said.