KATH battles critical equipment shortage — only one CT scan working

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the major referral facility serving the Ashanti Region and surrounding areas, is grappling with a critical shortage of essential medical equipment, severely affecting healthcare delivery.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, November 4, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, disclosed that in its 70 years of existence, KATH has never owned a cardiac catheterisation machine — a crucial device used to diagnose and treat heart conditions.

Dr. Baidoo further revealed that the hospital currently operates with only one functional CT scan machine out of three, putting immense pressure on staff and patients.

“We have three scan machines; only one is working currently. We’re trying to bring up the second one, and we have engineers working on that,” he told the Committee.

The situation, he noted, continues to hamper the hospital’s ability to provide efficient diagnostic and emergency care to the thousands of patients who depend on it daily.