Tamale, Feb. 27, GNA - The Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) Dr. Ken Sagoe has pledged to make the hospital a centre of excellence in medical care in the country saying that 91though w= e are the youngest among the teaching hospitals, we shall be the best'. He said the hospital will achieve this through capacity building of it= s staff, improvement of the facilities of the staff and the provision of quality equipments as well as good orientation for the staff to appreciate and give good customer care to patients.

Dr. Sagoe said the hospital will be recruiting more nurses and doctors to bring the staff strength of the nurses to 980 while the doctors will als= o be pegged at 250 but currently targeting 150 doctors adding that the staff of doctors was currently at 110. Dr. Sagoe who was addressing the media in Tamale on Friday at a press soiree organized by the hospital to interact with the media said the hospital was also recruiting various caliber of health professionals to achieve its target.

He said the hospital was growing from strength to strength in its staf= f numbers and infrastructural improvement adding that the first face of the ongoing project of the hospital will be completed by the end of the year. The CEO said the old structure of the hospital will also be rehabilitated and be completed in 2012 to make way for the hospital to reac= h its desire status.

He said the hospital could only achieve its status as centre of excellence if it collaborated effectively with the media and appealed to th= e media to forge a positive relationship with the hospital. Dr. Sagoe commended the media for their positive reportage on the hospital and appealed to the media to also portray a positive image of the Northern Region adding that the negative reportages on the Northern parts o= f the country scare people to have the impression that Northern Ghana was a =91no go' area.

He also appeal to people who come to the hospital to exercise respect and avoid interfering in the administration of the hospital since it obstructs them from performing their professional mandate.