| Korle Bu Teaching Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Health | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Accra,Accra Metropolis District,Greater Accra Region, Ghana |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public -Ghana Health Service |
| Type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | University of Ghana Medical School |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Beds | 1600[1] |
| History | |
| Opened | 9 October 1923[2] |
| Links | |
| Website | KBTH |
| Lists | Hospitals in Ghana |
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital established in 1923 and located in theAblekuma South District in theAccra Metropolitan District of theGreater Accra Region,Ghana.[3][4] It is the only publictertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is ateaching hospital affiliated with the medical school of theUniversity of Ghana. In 2019, the hospital gained a licence from the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), after meeting the requirement.[5]
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital was established on 9 October 1923 and has grown from an initial 200-bed capacity to 2,000. It is currently the third largest hospital in Africa and the leading nationalreferral centre in Ghana.[6][7] Korle-Bu, which means in theGa language "the valley of theKorle Lagoon",[7] was established as a general hospital to address the health needs of theindigenous people under the administration of SirGordon Guggisberg, then Governor of theGold Coast.[8]
Population growth and the provenefficacy 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 theUniversity of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) was established for the training of medical doctors.
TheUniversity of Ghana Medical School and five other constituent schools are now subsumed under theCollege 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.
The hospital currently 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 andGynaecology,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 specialisation in various fields such asNeuro-surgery,Dentistry, Eye, ENT,Renal,Orthopaedics,Oncology,Dermatology, Cardiothoracic, Radiotherapy, Radio diagnosis, Paediatric Surgery andReconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns.
The Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burn Centre, the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the National Centre forRadiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine in particular also draw a sizeable number of their clientele from neighbouring countries such asNigeria,Burkina Faso andTogo.
Plans are underway to venture into molecular testing. 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.
In September 2023, the hospital came under heavy national discourse when it was reported to have increased the price of dialysis.[9][10] However, the hospital later apologised to Ghanaians for the disquiet caused as the alleged new fee had not been approved.[11][12] On 29 September 2023, the government through the ministry of health summoned the management of the Hospital over the yet to be implemented increament of the cost of dialysis.[13]
In April 2023, theVice-President of Ghana,DrMahamudu Bawumia inaugurated a $100 million catheterization laboratory for the hospital. This was aimed at improving and supporting accurate imaging and sensing of diseases.[14] In October 2024, the presidentNana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo inaugurated a state-of-the-art Urology and Nephrology Center of Excellence to provide care for patients with urological and nephrological conditions.[15]
The hospital has a very large campus and has expanded to host a number of institutions. The list includes the following:
The Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation (KBNF) is a project in aid of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.[16] It was founded by Marjorie Ratel, anurse ofneuroscience inVancouver,British Columbia,Canada.[17] The KBNF was involved in the foundation of the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Center.[18]
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05°32′16.2″N00°13′38.67″W / 5.537833°N 0.2274083°W /5.537833; -0.2274083
