Authorities at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have disclosed that the Ministry of Health has pledged to facilitate the acquisition of a catheterisation (CATH) laboratory for the facility.
This assurance follows the tragic passing of Dr. Kwame Adu Ofori, an Emergency Physician and former staff member of KATH, who died from a heart attack on July 6. His death has drawn public attention to the absence of a CATH lab at Ghana’s second-largest referral hospital—a facility critical for diagnosing and treating blocked coronary arteries.
Dr. Ofori was initially rushed to KATH, where doctors were able to stabilise him. However, the lack of a catheterisation lab necessitated an emergency airlift to Accra for further treatment. Sadly, he passed away before reaching the facility.
Speaking to Newsmen on Tuesday, July 8, Kwame Frimpong, the hospital’s Public Relations Officer, confirmed that KATH has never had a CATH lab, despite multiple efforts by hospital leadership to secure one.
“Our Chief Executive, Dr. (Med) Paa Kwesi Baidoo, has been working hard to get us a CATH lab, and these efforts have intensified following this unfortunate incident,” Frimpong stated. “The Minister of Health has made a full commitment to supporting the hospital in getting one. He has already connected our Chief Executive to some institutions that, if we are lucky, we might get the facility.”
Frimpong further noted that the issue reflects a larger challenge with how medical resources are distributed across the country. While facilities in Accra, such as Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the University of Ghana Medical Centre, have two and one CATH labs respectively, KATH has none—despite serving a vast population in the northern sector.
“The inequitable distribution of critical medical infrastructure continues to disadvantage regional hospitals like KATH,” he added.
Checks by Citi News revealed that Dr. Ofori, though formerly attached to KATH, had more recently been working with the Ho Teaching Hospital and the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS). At the time of his heart attack, he had returned to Kumasi to visit his family.
The incident has reignited calls for equitable investment in critical healthcare infrastructure beyond the capital and is expected to place renewed pressure on the Ministry of Health to act swiftly.
