Dr Gilbert Buckle
Members of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) have called for the resignation of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Dr Gilbert Buckle.
According to KOSSA, the dismissal of the hospital’s CEO would be “the only way to resolve” what they referred to as the rot at the referral facility.
A statement signed by the Vice President of KOSSA, Augustine Sowah, also called for the dismissal of other officials of the hospital.
It also called on the incoming Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, to carry out a forensic audit into the administration of Dr Buckle to unravel all the shady deals which have been carried out during his tenure.
This follows the recent payment of more than GH¢150,000 to the CEO and some directors of the hospital which the board claims innocence of.
“The way to resolve this issue is to interdict the CEO, the director of finance and the internal auditor and constitute a new board with immediate effect,” it said.
The association also accused Dr Buckle and the outgoing board of financial mismanagement of the nation’s premier hospital.
“KOSSA is very surprised that the immediate past government appointees to the board are today claiming innocence of the outrageous payments allegedly made by the Dr Buckle management to itself.”
“We at KOSSA do not believe this. But we ask, since when did Prof Mawuli Sallar and his board lose confidence in Dr Buckle and his leadership style? When we raised the preventive red flags about Dr Buckle, did he and his board not rubbish it and come after us?”the statement queried.
The statement said the association had cautioned the management and the board on several occasions about the financial challenges the hospital was facing, but their concerns had not been heeded to.
Additionally, letters had been written to the immediate past Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, but no responses were received.
“We wish to refer Ghanaians to two main letters and reports: the first was dated April 16, 2016, and expressly addressed to Mr Segbefia, with the heading: Acts of impunity by the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital board and management,” it added.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
