Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the premier tertiary healthcare facility in Ghana, was established on October 9, 1923. The facility was built under the administration of Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, then, the Governor of the Gold Coast, as a General Hospital to attend to the health needs of the people. Korle Bu, in the local Ga parlance means ‘the valley of the Korle Lagoon’.

Shortly after its establishment, Korle Bu witnessed an increase in hospital attendance as a result of the proven efficacy of hospital-based treatment. This surge in accessing the Hospital’s services used to result in serious congestion compelling the Government to set up a committee to assess and make recommendations for its expansion in 1953.

The Task Force’s recommendations were accepted and new structures such as Child Health, Maternity, Medical and the Surgical Blocks were added to the Hospital. This increased Korle Bu’s initial 200-bed capacity to 1,200.

The Hospital gained teaching hospital status in 1962 when the School of Medicine and Dentistry, formerly University of Ghana Medical School, was established to train doctors.

Currently, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which is the third biggest referral centre in Africa has 2,000 beds, 21 clinical and diagnostic departments and three Centres of Excellence. It also has an average outpatient attendance of 1,500 with about 250 inpatient admissions.

The clinical and diagnostic departments include Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, Child Health, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthesia, Family Medicine/Polyclinic, Accident & Emergency, Psychiatry, Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre and Accident & Orthopaedics. Others are Pharmacy, Pathology, Laboratory and Radiology.

The Hospital also provides sophisticated scientific treatment procedures in various subspecialties such as Neurosurgery, Paediatric surgery, Dental/Oral maxillofacial, Ophthalmology, Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT), Renal, Orthopaedics, Oncology, Dermatology, Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery and Radiotherapy & Nuclear Medicine.

NATIONAL CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

There are three Centres of Excellence in the Hospital, namely, the National Cardiothoracic Centre, the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre and the National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine. These Centres attract a sizeable number of clients within the country and from neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo and Benin among others.

THE STRUCTURE
The promulgation of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, Act 525 of 1996 gave the Hospital the power to operate as a semi-autonomous organisation. It draws direction from a Board which is charged with giving broad policy guidance for the smooth administration of the Hospital. The daily administration of the Hospital is, however, vested in the Chief Executive with assistance from seven Directors. The Directors are for Medical Affairs, Nursing Services, Pharmacy, Administration, Finance, Human Resources and General Services.

Shortly after attaining the semi-autonomous status, the Sub-Budget Management Centre (Sub-BMC) concept was introduced to enhance administrative processes in the departments. By this concept, administrative power is decentralised to the departments referred to as Sub-BMCs.

Currently, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has 14 Sub-BMCs, namely, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine, Surgery, Trauma & Orthopaedics, National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre, Pathology, Child Health, Polyclinic, Laboratory, Anaesthesia, Radiology, Psychiatry, Accident & Emergency and Allied Surgery Sub-BMCs.