Historijski pogledi (Jun 2024)

Public Healthcare Administration in Ghana: A focus on the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (1923-2020)

  • Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Derrick Sarpong Owusu, Lawrencia Akunsah Tetteh, Solomon Narh Tettey, Abena Asieduwaa Yeboah, Abena Achiaa Yeboah

DOI
https://doi.org/10.52259/historijskipogledi.2024.7.11.406
Journal volume & issue
Vol. VII, no. 11
pp. 406 – 433

Abstract

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Since the pre-colonial period to the post-colonial era, public health administration has been intertwined with several issues ranging from the inadequacy of public health facilities and health workers, improper settlement planning, insanitary conditions, inadequate laws, their implementation and enforcement of same. Using a qualitative approach of research, the study focused on the historical interpretation of the challenges and effects of public health administration on health workers and patients in Ghana. This empirical study focused on responses from workers in the Accident and Emergency Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Ghana. The study teased out information from expert informants to make useful generalizations to shape public health administration in relation to similar facilities in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. Among other things, it also studies how reported sicknesses and or medical cases such as COVID-19 and the management of same at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in contemporary times. Again, based on the empirical responses, the study provided empirical prescriptions to help improve public health administration in health facilities in Ghana, which has wider ramifications for related facilities on the African continent. Attention and resources should not only be given to clinical care, to the neglect of public health. Efforts should cut across every sector of healthcare and fully equip the office of public health administration to do a more efficient work. There is also the need to make inferences from the various past challenges and effects of public health administration in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Ghana at large to know how to deal with similar challenges emanating from the day to day running of Ghana’s health institutions including the required preparednes to deal with epidemics and pandemics at the local and national levels.

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