The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has called on the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWL) to provide a dedicated water supply line to the facility, following prolonged disruptions in water supply that have severely impacted hospital operations.

In a statement issued on March 27 and signed by the Head of Public Affairs, Kwame Frimpong, KATH management highlighted the implications encountered by the hospital due to the lack of water for the past 10 days.

To mitigate the impact, the hospital has resorted to alternative arrangements, including utilizing water tankers from KATH, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), and private operators.

However, due to the sheer size of the hospital and the number of patients and staff, these efforts have been inadequate.

“The hospital, on average, has over 6,000 staff members, 4,000 medical and nursing students, 1,300 outpatient department (OPD) patients, over 700 inpatients, and countless visitors daily. The current supply is insufficient to meet the hospital’s needs,” the statement noted.

The Minister of Health and the Ashanti Regional Minister have also coordinated efforts to increase the number of water tankers supplying the hospital as an interim measure.

Meanwhile, KATH management has engaged with GWL, which is making arrangements to reroute water supply to the hospital through a different line as soon as possible.

KATH emphasized that it has taken steps to minimize the impact of the water crisis on its operations. However, management stressed that a long-term solution is required, specifically a dedicated water supply line for the hospital, as the current arrangement where KATH shares a line with several areas in Kumasi has proven problematic.

Additionally, KATH called for the expansion of its main reservoir to ensure a more reliable supply of water during future disruptions.

Management expressed optimism that the combination of additional water tankers and the planned re-routing of supply by GWL would provide some relief in the short term but reiterated the urgent need for a dedicated line to safeguard the hospital’s uninterrupted operations.