PROFILE OF DR OPOKU WARE AMPOMAH: CEO OF KORLE BU TEACHING HOSPITAL

 

NEW CEO, DR OPOKU WARE AMPOMAH ASSUMES OFFICE

           

The Hospital’s new Chief Executive Officer, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, has assumed office after his appointment.

Before his appointment, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah was the Director of National Reconstructive Plastics Surgery and Burns Centre. He is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon with many years of experience in Hospital Management.

The Board and Management of the Hospital wish to call on all staff and other stakeholders of the Hospital to accord the New CEO every support he needs to make Korle Bu the hub of quality healthcare in Ghana and beyond.


Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, the newly appointed CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital is a seasoned Consultant Plastic Surgeon and has over the past 23 years contributed in diverse ways to the Health Sector both as a Clinician and a Manager. He currently serves in various capacities; locally as the Director of the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre, (NRPSBC), Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, the Honorary Medical Director and Board Member for the Ghana Foundation of Operation Smile, the President of the Ghana Burn Association and internationally, as a Director of Resurge Africa (a UK-based charity supporting the development of Reconstructive Plastic surgery services in Africa), a team member of INTERBURNS (International Network for Training, Education and Research in Burns), an Executive committee member of the Pan-African Burn Society (PABS) and a member of the WHO Expert Committee on Emergency Medical Response for mass burn casualty incidents.

Dr Ampomah is a graduate of the International Leadership Program for Physicians at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the first West African based practitioner to obtain the Intercollegiate Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeon, UK in the specialty of Plastic Surgery –FRCS (Plast) in March 2008, a Member qua Surgeon of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, UK, a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK.

Philosophy

In terms of his philosophy for effective Health Care Delivery in an under resourced country, he believes that: “You should not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

He believes that it is possible to offer first class medical services in a third world setting; that every member of the Health Care Team is important; and that a “chain is as strong as the weakest link.”

This philosophy and believe have combined to trigger an unyielding passion for supporting the underprivileged. Dr. Ampomah is of the view that a doctor in the city should not limit his work to the hospital where he /she is based, but should reach out to patients in deprived communities; hence his second philosophy that: “If they can’t come to you, you should go to them.”

These philosophies underpinned his initiation of the Reconstructive Surgery Outreach programmes to underserved regions of Ghana. The programme has been running since 2012 and has provided free surgery to over 1700 patients so far in areas such as Dormaa Ahenkro, Tamale, Techiman, Jirapa, Nadowli, Bole, Ho etc. (with the involvement of various sponsors such as Christ for the Rural World, GNPC and the Ministry of Health). This volunteer effort has also been practically demonstrated by him through his leadership of outreaches in collaboration with Operation Smile to various local communities such as Ho, Koforidua, Tamale, Cape Coast and International ones such as Antananarivo, Madagascar, Mekelle, Ethiopia, Lubumbashi – Democratic Republic of Congo, Zhenxiong, China.

Training of Health Personnel

Dr. Ampomah is a firm believer that health personnel should be well trained and always be abreast with current global best practice. In line with this belief, he has undergone extensive training in the UK, USA, Taiwan and Chile. He has used his international network to provide opportunities for the Doctors and Nurses and other Health Care workers in the department to train abroad in countries such as the UK, USA, India, Bangladesh and South Africa. He has also introduced new courses locally to enhance local skills transfer.

In collaboration with Resurge Africa and the Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit, Glasgow, he obtained an 80,000 pound sterling grant from Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) and UK Aid to build capacity in Burn Care Services in Ghana. Together, they started the novel Postgraduate Diploma Course in Burn and Plastic Surgery Nursing. Eighty (80) nurses from across the nation have graduated successfully so far. Cost savings to the country was in excess of 2.5 million pound sterling.

He initiated the Emergency Management of Severe Burns Course which has been running regularly since July 2008. He instituted the Cadaveric Flap Course for Advanced Surgical Training in Ghana from 2011 as well as the Microsurgery training course, thereby providing localized skills transfer/ capacity building to surgical trainees with significant cost savings to the nation. He organized Ghana’s first Tissue Viability Training programme/workshop in August 2016. Under his leadership, the NRPSBC has become an internationally recognized training hub for the Sub-region. He is a regular invited speaker at many international conferences and Webinars, and a Public Education volunteer on various media platforms.

As Country Medical Director of Operation Smile from 2014, he has led effort to build local capacity to the extent that from 2018, the Ghana Foundation has transitioned from having majority foreign expertise on Surgical Outreach missions to consisting exclusively of Ghanaian multidisciplinary medical expertise. Additionally, international missions now consist of more than 70% locally based healthcare personnel. Furthermore, Ghanaian volunteers are now a reliable source of expertise for Operation Smile missions around the world.

Innovations

Dr. Ampomah is a highly driven and hands-on leader. He has brought to bear some innovative ideas and practical solutions to problems in the delivery of the plastic surgery service. In response to the needs of the Centre and patients, he established an in- house factory to produce sterile dressings in 2017.This has resulted in significant cost savings to both patients and the Centre and generated extra income for Staff Welfare Activities and to support needy patients.

He set up the first state-of-the-art Microsurgery Skills Training Laboratory in Sub Saharan Africa at the NRPSBC in February, 2020 with funds from the British High Commissioner, H.E. Iain Walker and the Ghana Grand Fundraising/Awareness Tour, a 1000km Cycling Tour in August 2019, to raise Funds for the Burns Centre and create awareness about burns and other health and social issues (He personally rode the last 100km from Akosombo to Accra). Thirty–Five Thousand pounds was raised (£35,000).

Infrastructural development

Under his leadership, the NRPSBC has seen a lot of infrastructural changes. Through his astute fundraising skills, he obtained a 1.6-million-dollar grant from Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) which was used to complete Ghana’s first Burn Intensive Care Complex, which comprises of a six-bed bed ICU, six-bed High Dependency, Executive Wards, Theatres, Conference room, Meeting rooms, Library, offices, Laboratory, Out-Patients Department, Laundry, Sterilization Unit etc. This was commissioned in December 2018. A one million-cedi grant was also obtained from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and used for major refurbishment and upgrade of existing facilities at the Centre.

In response to the current Covid-19 pandemic, he led the Operation Smile Ghana Team to mobilize and donate 50 Patient Monitors and a large quantity of PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) to the Ministry of Health and the following Hospitals (Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ho Teaching Hospital, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and Tema General Hospital).

Other social services

He believes in community and service and making an impact by social action. As a Board Member of the CHEERS Children’s Club, a non-governmental Children’s Welfare Organization, he has been instrumental in the establishment and running of two Community Children’s Libraries in Madina and Korle Bu since 2003.

Comments

Post a Comment

Motivational Quote

“Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply. Wishing Is Not Enough; We Must Do.”

Popular posts from this blog

History: Ghana Health Service

Image
            Ghana Health Service The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is a Ghanaian government body established in 1996 as part of the Health Sector Reform of Ghana. The Health Service is under the Ministry of Health. The Health service primarily administrates the health services provided by the government and in implementing government policies on healthcare. History The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is a Public Service body established under Act 525 of 1996 as required by the 1992 constitution. It is an autonomous Executive Agency responsible for implementation of national policies under the control of the Ghana Minister for Health through its governing Council – the Ghana Health Service Council. The GHS continue to receive public funds and thus remain within the public sector. However, its employees are no longer part of the civil service, and GHS managers are no longer required to follow all civil service rules and procedures. The independence of ...
Read more

List of Hospitals And Health Centre's In Takoradi

Image
      List of Hospitals And Health Centre's In Takoradi   Western Region Districts In This Region Ahanta West Amenfi East Amenfi West Aowin Suaman Aowin/Suaman Bia Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Bibiani Anwiaso Bekwai Bibiani-Anwiaso-Bekwai Jomoro Juabeso Mpohor /Wassa Nzema East Saema Sefwi Wiawso Sefwi-Wiawso Sekondi Metro Shama Stma Takoradi Takoradi Metro Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality Wassa Amenfi East Wassa Wes t   List of facilities JOSVER CHEMICAL AHANTA ABASA CHPS COMPOUND APREMDU CHPS COMPOUND ASSAKAE CHPS COMPOUND DIABENE CHPS COMPOUND ESHIEM CHPS COMPOUND 2 MEDICAL RECEPTION STATION DANVIC CLINIC DOHAMM CLINIC EFFMANS CLINIC GABUSU CLINIC JEMIMA CRENTSIL CLINIC AND MATERNITY NAGEL MEMORIAL SDA CLINIC SAINT HELIER CLINIC TAKORADI HIGH STREET CLINIC TWIN CITY CLINIC WAMCO CLINIC OSSKOFF SMILE DENTAL CLINIC WEST ANAJI DENTAL CLINIC CITILAB MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES CONERSTONE CLINIC SCAN MEDICAL LABORATORY SERVICES NEW TAKORADI H...
Read more

Sustainable Agricultural Development In Ghana

Image
 Sustainable Agricultural Development In Ghana Bernard Baruch an American financier and stock investor once said, “Agriculture is the greatest and fundamentally the most important of our industries. The cities are but the branches of the tree of national life, the roots of which go deeply into the land. We all flourish or decline with the farmer. The above statement sounds literally true, because the very existence of man depends largely on agriculture. For this reason, the priorities of the agricultural sector are aligned to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They particularly respond to Goal 2 which assures to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe nutritious and sufficient food all year round and Goal 8 which promotes sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth through high value added, labour intensive sectors as agriculture. The priorities are also to respond to the 2014 Maputo Declaration on accelerated Agricultural growth and transformation ...
Read more

TRANSPORT SERVICES FOR HEALTH WORKERS

Image
  TRANSPORT SERVICES FOR HEALTH WORKERS The Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Health and the Board of Directors of Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) are rolling Aayalolo Buses to provide transport services on essential health workers on the underlisted routes; From Amasaman hospital through Ofankor, Achimota hospital, Circle to CBD Dodowa through Adenta barrier, Legon hospital, 37 hospital to Korle-bu Kasoa to Accra through Kaneshie LEKMA Hospital through Spintex, Airport, 37, ridge hospital to korle-bu Ashiaman Municipal Assembly to Tema general hospital though to Community 1 Ashiaman to Accra Via Motor way, airport, 37 to CBD Adenta to Circle Ayimensah though Legon Hospital, 37 hospital, Ridge Hospital to korle-bu LEKMA through the beach road to CBD Dansoman round about through Banana inn to mamprobi to Korle-bu Tema Community 25 though motorway round about, general hospital to tema community 1 3 Buses will shuttle within tema township
Read more

Health Sector: Commissioning of the refurbished Male Medical Block and Endoscopy and Laparoscopy Unit

Image
The eighteen (18) bed capacity male Medical ward which was successfully refurbished into a Thirty Four (34) bed capacity Male Medical Ward was duly commissioned by the able Core Management and assisted by guests on Thursday, 1st August, 2019. In attendance were the Municipal DDNS (DDNS Irene Anowa), Regional Estate Manager (Mr. Gordon Anarfo) and the Media (TV3, GTV, JOY TV, JOY FM, etc.) The Hospital Chaplain, Rev. Sackey Addo prayed for the official commissioning, after which he sprinkled Holy water to declare the block commissioned. The Hospital Director, Dr. Kwame Anim – Boamah took the opportunity related that, the expansion was necessitated by the limited capacity to admit most especially referred cases which most often comes in at a terminal state. The project, according to the Hospital Director was funded fully from the Hospital’s Internally Generated Fund. The occasion also provided an opportune platform to outdoor another flagship project (i.e, endoscopy and laparoscopy Units...
Read more

Gonorrhoea researchers identify innovative vaccine, new antibiot

Image
  Gonorrhoea researchers identify innovative vaccine, new antibiotic Researchers have identified a protein that powers the virulence of the bacteria that causes gonorrhoea, opening the possibility of a new target for antibiotics and, even better, a vaccine. The findings, published Friday in PLOS Pathogens, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, are especially important since the microbe, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is considered a “superbug” because of its resistance to all classes of antibiotics available for treating infections. Gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease that results in 78 million new cases worldwide each year, is highly damaging if untreated or improperly treated. It can lead to endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, epididymitis and infertility. Babies born to infected mothers are at increased risk of blindness. “The infections very often are silent,” said Oregon State University researcher Aleksandra Sikora. “Up to 50 percent of infected women ...
Read more

Ken Ofori-Atta Set To Appear Before The Appointments Of Parliament Committee After Contracting COVID-19

Image
  Ken Ofori-Atta Off to the USA for Medical Care   The Ministry of Finance wishes to inform the general public and  stakeholders that Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Representative of H.E the President at the Ministry of Finance and Minister-designate for Finance, will travel to the United States of America today for a special medical review. Ken Ofori-Atta set to appear before the committee After recovering from Covid-19 last December, Mr. Ofori-Atta has had medical complications which doctors advise, require further interventions not currently available in Ghana.  He is expected to be away for two weeks. Mr. Ofori-Atta was scheduled to appear before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, 16th February, 2021. The leadership of Parliament has been duly notified for a new date to be fixed upon his return.
Read more

WHO publishes its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens”

Image
  WHO publishes its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” 0  Drug and Pharmacies in Russia The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens”-a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. The list was drawn up in a bid to guide and promote research and development of new antibiotics, as part of WHO’s efforts to address growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines. According to the WHO report, the list highlights in particular the threat of gram-negative bacteria that were resistant to multiple antibiotics. It indicated that the bacteria had built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and could pass along genetic material that allowed other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well. “This list is a new tool to ensure research and development responds to urgent public health needs,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s Assistant Director-...
Read more

Building a health centre in the locality of Amrahia, Ghana

Image
   Building a health centre in the locality of Amrahia, Ghana Although in recent years Ghana has made a considerable effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, there is still a gap between the capital and its suburbs; suburbs like Amrahia (in Tema district), where there are high poverty rates. The precarious water supplies, healthcare facilities and transport network mean that treatable illnesses like malaria, diarrhea and respiratory infections can have fatal consequences for the population, who currently have to travel to very distant areas to receive healthcare. After a survey of 665 heads of families in the area, which made clear the concern of the population over the availability of accessible, efficient healthcare services, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God, present in Tema district since the 1990s, decided to undertake a project to build a health Centre.  This clinic would become part of the country's public health service and also serve as a Ce...
Read more