Kumasi, Aug. 18, GNA - Work on the construction of a multi-million Euro accident and emergency centre for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has begun.

The project, which is expected to be completed in 2007, will serve as referral centre for accident victims in the West Africa sub-region. It will also be connected to the national ambulance service where victims in long distance areas would be flown in a helicopter to the centre for treatment.

Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Chief Executive Officer of KATH made this known at the two-day mid-year performance review meeting of the staff of the hospital in Kumasi on Thursday.

He said personnel from the hospital would be sent to Germany and South Africa to receive training in accident and trauma management to enable them to man the hospital, adding that the centre would also serve as a training ground for accident and emergency management after its successful take off.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare said the hospital was expanding the mortuary by adding 200 bodies while a fully equipped Histopathology Unit had also been completed.

He said a dental block was also being constructed to assist the College of Health Sciences to establish a dental school at the hospital. The Chief Executive also spoke of the refurbishment and re-equipping of all consulting rooms and wards at the hospital, adding that the project had also began to network the hospital and introduce the staff to Internet services.

He said the hospital had received a number of equipment to boost its operation. Dr Nsiah-Asare said most of the projects were being financed from the internally generated resources of the hospital.

He stated that the basic objective of all the developmental projects was to position the hospital to become a centre of excellence by the year 2008.

He appealed to heads of department and staff of the hospital to get on board and play their respective roles efficiently to help achieve the targets set by the hospital.