Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is the premier health-care facility in Ghana. Located in Accra, it is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliated with the medical school of the University of Ghana. Three centres of excellence, the National Cardiothoracic Centre, the National Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Radiotherapy Centres are all part of it. In 2019, the hospital gained a license from the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), after meeting the requirement.[3]

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital
Ministry of Health
Geography
LocationAccra, Accra Metropolis District, Greater Accra Region, Ghana
Organisation
Care systemPublic - Ghana Health Service
TypeTeaching
Affiliated universityUniversity of Ghana Medical School
Services
Emergency departmentYes
Beds1600[1]
History
Opened9 October 1923[2]
Links
WebsiteKBTH
ListsHospitals in Ghana

Established on 9 October 1923, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has grown from an initial 200-bed capacity to 2,000. It is currently the third largest hospital in Africa and the leading national referral centre in Ghana.

Korle-Bu, which means the valley of the Korle Lagoon, was established as a general hospital to address the health needs of the indigenous people under the administration of Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast.

Population growth and the proven efficacy of hospital-based treatment caused a rise in hospital attendance in Korle-Bu. By 1953, demand for the hospital's services had escalated so high that the government was compelled to set up a task force to study the situation and make recommendations for the expansion of the hospital.

The government accepted and implemented the recommendations of the task force which resulted in the construction of new structures, such as the Maternity, Medical, Surgical and Child Health Blocks. This increased the hospital's bed capacity to 1,200.

Korle-Bu gained teaching hospital status in 1962, when the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) was established for the training of medical doctors.

The UGMS and five other constituent schools are now subsumed under the College of Health Sciences to train an array of health professionals. All the institutions of the College however, undertake their clinical training and research in the Hospital.

At the moment, the Hospital has 2,000 beds and 17 clinical and diagnostic Departments/Units. It has an average daily attendance of 1,500 patients and about 250 patient admissions.

Clinical and diagnostic departments of the hospital include Medicine, Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Pathology, Laboratories, Radiology, Anaesthesia, Surgery, Polyclinic, Accident Centre and the Surgical/Medical Emergency as well as Pharmacy. Other departments include Pharmacy, Finance, Engineering, General Administration.

The Hospital also provides sophisticated and scientific investigative procedures and specialisation in various fields such as Neuro-surgery, Dentistry, Eye, ENT, Renal, Orthopaedics, Oncology, Dermatology, Cardiothoracic, Radiotherapy, Radio diagnosis, Paediatric Surgery and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns.

The Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burn Centre, the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine in particular also draw a sizeable number of their clientele from neighbouring countries such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital continues to blaze the trail when it comes to the introduction of specialised services. It recently carried out the first ever kidney transplant in Ghana. It is one of the few hospitals in Africa where DNA tests are carried out. Other specialised services the Hospital provides include brachytherapy intervention for the treatment of prostate cancer and keyhole surgeries.

Plans are underway to venture into molecular testing and employ the use of cutting edge technology. All these are part of the grand plan to offer a wider spectrum of specialist care to position Ghana as the hub of health tourism within the West Africa Sub region.

Institutions

The hospital has a very large campus and has expanded to host a number of institutions. The list includes the following:

National Cardio-Thoracic Centre
  • The Facility is known as one of the best State of the Art Centre for Cardio-Thoracic Care in West Africa
  • The whole project was carried out by Hospital Engineering GmbH and GerTech GmbH from Germany
  • It was carried out as a Turn-Key Project, including planning, designing, project development, construction works and implementation as well as provision and installation of medical and technical equipment
  • Since there is a high demand both from local and foreign patients the existing Centre is not sufficient, recent media publications are calling for an extension

Centres of Excellence
  • National Cardiothoracic Centre[4]
  • National Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery[5]
  • Radiotherapy Centre

Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation

The Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation (KBNF) is a project in aid of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.[6] It was founded by Marjorie Ratel, a nurse of neuroscience in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[7] The KBNF was involved in the foundation of the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Center.[8]

Notes
  1. Govindaraj, Ramesh; A. A. D. Obuobi; N. K. A. Enyimayew; P. Antwi; S. Ofosu-Amaah (August 1996). "Hospital Autonomy in Ghana: The Experience of Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals". Data for Decision Making Project. School of Public Health, University of Ghana and Harvard School of Public Health. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.604.2836.
  2. "Gold Coast under Colonial Rule 1902–1951". History of Ghana:Gold Coast era. BusinessGhana. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  3. "Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital now HeFRA certified". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  4. "National Cardiothoracic Centre". Korle-Bu Hospital. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  5. "Reconstructive Plastics Surgery & Burns Centre". Korle-Bu Hospital. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  6. Gibril Koroma (28 August 2008). "Ghana Fest 2008". The Patriotic Vanguard. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  7. "Engaging Diaspora in Development speakers". The Vancouver Sun. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  8. "UTMB neuroscientist hopes to bring expertise to Ghana". Guidry News Service. 5 February 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
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See also

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