Ghana could suffer a major setback in the health sector as the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) faces an imminent closure if cogent steps are not taken to address issues of congestion, authorities have warned.

Authorities at the hospital have cited the constant referrals of patients by primary and secondary health centers in the Ashanti Region as the major cause of the existing difficulty.

Offering explanation on K-FM in Kumasi, Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Kwame Frimpong, was emphatic that unless stringent methods are taken, the facility would be closed down to the public in no time.

While advising the public to turn to other health centers for peripheral illness, Mr Frimpong minced no words by stating that successive governments have done little to improve the sector.

Consequently, he urged relevant state urgencies to upgrade the Menyiah and Tafo hospitals to be able to provide specialist care, which according to him, would considerably reduce the number of people who visit KATH on daily basis.

“Why can’t we improve facilities in the peripheral areas? Why can’t we upgrade to Manhyia, Tafo, etc so that they can also provide some aspects of the specialist care that we are providing here so that people don’t have to march up here for that care but go to the peripheral hospitals to get the care they deserve,” he advised.

KATH is Ghana’s second largest health facility and largely serves patients from the northern-belt of the country.