WHEN THE British construction firm, Messrs Gee, Walker and Slater was awarded the 2.5 million pound sterling contract in 1952 to construct a new 510 bed capacity Kumasi Central Hospital to cater for the growing population of Kumasi and Ashanti, little did the colonial masters realize that the facility would still be inadequate in 50 years.

On completion in November 1954, the first President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory, commissioned the hospital, which started operations in March 1955.

In 1957, the hospital was renamed Komfo Anokye Hospital in honour and memory of the legendary traditional priest, Okomfo Anokye.

Naturally, changes have became imminent with the passage of time and so the hospital has had to adapt to the changes in the areas of human and materials resources as well as infrastructural wise.

From an initial annual in-patient admission of 8,000 in the early years of 1955, the hospital currently admits over 43,000 patients a year at 1,500 per day. The average yearly out patient department (OPD) attendance is 45,000. The hospital now caters for half of the 20 million people of Ghana. Of course, its catchment area cuts across the three Northern Regions, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo Regions and the Northern sections of Western, Central, Eastern and Volta Regions as well as the neighbouring La Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

With the establishment of the School of Medical Science (SMS) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1975, the hospital became the accredited teaching hospital, which necessitated another change of name to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The change has been gradual but tremendously exciting in the past few years under the administration of Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Chief Executive Officer whose vision is to see KATH become a Centre of Excellence by 2008 by which time it (KATH) would have fully realized its mandate to provide tertiary advanced specialist clinical care, research and training of undergraduate and post graduate health professionals.

With Dr.Nsiah-Asare, who feels strongly about the development of KATH, at the helm of affairs, and backed by a supportive Board of Directors and a sensitive Government, the hospital has experienced real qualitative transformation.

A number of interventions have been initiated to boost the quality of clinical and non-clinical services. The result is that KATH has actually undergone expansion on a scale that is unprecedented in it history.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare's main focus is the human resource and infrastructural development of the hospital as a teaching hospital. Today, several construction projects are dotted around its premises.

Towards this end, it has been his priority to introduce new state of the art equipment as a pre-requisite for the achievement of the management's vision of attaining the status of a Centre of Excellence.

KATH presently has a 1,000-bed capacity with the School of Medical Sciences having trained 975 medical practitioners. Currently there are 747 medical students in training besides the training of Medical Laboratory Technologists and degree Nurses with the Faculty of Allied Sciences at the SMS/KNUST.

It is on record that KATH has excelled in the running of the Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) clinic and accepted as an international training centre for the West Africa Sub Region by the USAID funded Family Health International (FHI) AWARE /HIV Projects of the USA.

The hospital has developed a number of new specialist clinics like multi-disciplinary oncology, neuro-surgery, cranio-facial/cleft, diabetes, sickle cell, renal/hypertension, clubfoot, haematology, HIV/AIDs, breast, paediatric, neurology and asthma. KATH is even expected to introduce invitro fertilization by 2008 for which the obstetrician and gyaenacology departments are being adequately equipped to deliver.

Under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), KATH, as a key service provider, is currently providing services to 23 District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes in Ashanti, nine in Brong Ahafo Region, six in Western Region and two in Eastern Region.

KATH has received medical equipment valued at US$4 million from General Electric (GE) Company of USA under its "GE Africa product Donation programme" to ensure major re-equipping of the hospital.

The donation, which fits well into KATH's strategic objectives, has also led to massive improvement in the quality of services.

The hospital now has a new X-ray and Fluoroscopy Units and networking and computerization of the X-ray department and parts of the hospital.

The Orthopanthomography (OPG) unit for dental and maxillofacial examinations, has been established so has the Dialysis centre reactivated. KATH is also ready for Telemedicine (e-medicine) following the donation by GE, which has come to improve the operational efficiency of the hospital.