Dr Gilbert Buckle
Dr Gilbert Buckle, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), has left his position as the head of Ghana’s premier referral health centre after his contract with the health facility ended.
An open letter by Dr Buckle whose tenure of office ended on February 1, 2017 stated that his efforts which he compared to a seed planted will take time to germinate and even longer to grow to maturity.
With his departure, Dr Samuel Asiamah is set to act as CEO per the instructions of the director of the Ministry of Health.
Dr Buckle was appointed in July 2014 as the new CEO of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
His exit from the tertiary health facility follows numerous tussles between his administration and the Korle-Bu Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) who raised issues about certain expenditures of the outgoing CEO.
A recent tussle between the two sides was over funds used for-end-of-year party for hospital staff. KOSSA, thus, called for Dr Buckle’s resignation, accusing him of various misappropriations of funds belonging to the health facility.
“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,” KOSSA’s statement on the issue stated.
Before his appointment to the current position, Dr Buckle was the Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), a group of 187 church-based hospitals spread across the country.
He was once the medical director of the St Joseph’s Hospital in Koforidua, having worked there for several years. He also once held the position of municipal director of Health Services in the Eastern Region.
Dr Buckle has close to two decades working experience in both public and private health facilities in the country.
He is a member of the Ghana Medical Association, the Public Health Association of Ghana and the Institute of Directors, Ghana.
As a professionally certified Organisational and Systems Development Practitioner, Dr Buckle has a passion for and a special interest in health systems and management.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri