With due respect to the Honourable Minister, there is an important distinction between closing a health facility and informing the public that a facility has reached its operational capacity.
From the information available, KATH management did not permanently close the emergency unit. Rather, it announced a temporary suspension of new emergency admissions because the hospital had become overstretched and lacked sufficient capacity to safely accommodate additional patients.
As a major referral centre serving the Ashanti Region and several other regions, KATH has a responsibility to be transparent when its resources are overwhelmed. Such communication enables referring facilities, ambulance services, and patients to seek alternative healthcare centres where timely and safe care can be provided.
The critical question is this: would it have been better for KATH to remain silent and continue receiving patients beyond its capacity, potentially compromising patient safety, or to honestly inform the public and redirect patients to other available facilities?
The long-term solution lies not in assigning blame, but in strengthening Ghana’s healthcare system, expanding referral capacity, and accelerating the operationalisation of other hospitals to reduce the enormous pressure on KATH.
Moment of Wisdom; Time for Wisdom.
