KATH Honours Dedicated Workers

Mr. Chris Akanbobnaab, Senior Health Administrator and Business Manager of the Accident and Emergency Centre of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), was on Friday adjudged the 2008 Overall Best Worker of the hospital, for which he took home a grand prize of a fully air conditioned Tata saloon car. He emerged winner from 92 names drawn from doctors (16), midwives (2), nurses (21), Healthcare assistants (12), personnel from Finance (5), Pharmacy (5), Administrative Staff (10) Support Staff (12) and Allied Staff (9) for the 14 categories. The grand prize was donated by Ernest Chemists Company Limited, a pharmaceutical company and the lead sponsor of the 2008 KATH Best Worker Awards ceremony, the first in ten years. The selection of best workers from the various departments was done by a Staff Award Committee, headed by the Director of Administration, which shortlisted a total of 92 names for the 14 categories, after an arduous, transparent and thorough process, which ensured fairness, neutrality. Thirteen other members of staff received various prizes ranging from home theatres, 29-inch flat screen television sets, double deck-refrigerators, plasma TVs, four burner gas cookers with ovens, among other items donated by SAG Systems, Stak-Fam Co. Ltd., Osons Chemist, Palb Pharmaceuticals, Victory Enterprise and Daamas Co. Ltd. Other sponsors included Unicom Chemists, Globus Healthcare Services, Investrade International, Lymens Pharmaceuticals and Vicdoris Pharmacy. There was a prize for the Best Practising Midwife (Grace Owusu), Best Senior Nurse (Charlotte O. Buabeng), Best Nurse Anaesthetist (Mrs. Stella Awuah), Best Junior Nurse (Zipporah Ntekor Kukubor) and Best Senior Doctor (Dr. Martin Yao Keketsyor.) The Best Junior Doctor award went to Dr. Angelina Ampong, while Mr. Richard Bremfi grapped the Best Finance Staff Award. Other awards went to Messrs Bright Agyemang, Joseph Amissah, Fred Adjei, Raymond Kotoh and Richard Larbi took the Best Senior Support Staff, Best Junior Support Staff, Best Pharmacy Staff, Best Senior Allied Health Staff and Best Junior Allied Health Staff respectively. There were also prizes for 94 members of staff who had served the hospital for 35 years and above, as at December 2008. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, gave the assurance that the management of KATH would continue to reward all hard working staff for their dedication to duty, and called for suggestions as to make the 2009 Best Staff Awards ceremony better, since management intended to expand the scope of the awards, in terms of prizes and categories. The CEO indicated that staff motivation and welfare would continue to play a pivotal priority for management, since a trained and motivated workforce constitute the foundation for higher productivity, and an impetus for achieving the vision of becoming a medical centre of excellence, comparable to international standards. An overwhelmed Minister of Health, Dr. George Sipa Adjah Yankey, commended the management of KATH for adopting self-motivation to recognise and appreciate hard work through various means, including Provident Fund, training programmes for staff, free transportation, supplementary pension schemes and building plots. He said his ministry appreciated the sacrifices health workers were making for the nation, and assured them that the Ministry was exploring ways of motivating health workers, thereby restraining them from embarking on industrial actions. The Health Minister also announced that his outfit would continue to provide better conditions for health workers, because some of them were totally unacceptable, adding that a committee was reviewing the salaries of doctors and nurses. The Minister further said the Ministry of Health (MOH) was planning a redistribution of health workers in the country, to ensure fairness. Dr. Sipa Yankey promised that he would ensure the completion of the Maternity Block, which was initiated in 1974, by the close of 2011, to help curb maternal deaths, and called for team work of all health workers to enhance healthcare delivery. He cautioned against playing politics with health delivery, and urged health workers to put away political persuasions, and work as a team for national development, saying the health of the people was the wealth of the nation. On behalf of Mr. Ernest Bediako Sampong, Managing Director of the lead sponsor of the awards, a representative of the lead sponsor said the company would continue to support health institutions which strive for excellence in health delivery. According to the Rep, Ernest Chemists had committed about GH¢150,000 in maintaining high standards in health institutions including KATH and the Sunyani Regional hospital. Mr. Akanbobnaab, the Best Worker, on behalf of award winners, thanked the management of KATH for the initiative in recognising professionalism. source: The Chronicle