The new KML Diagnostic Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital
The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has opened a modern medical laboratory centre in its bid to expand and enhance its diagnostics services.
The Korle-Bu-Mindray-Lynch (KML) Diagnostic Centre is expected to augment the activities and services of the Korle-Bu Central Lab by providing services with faster results to meet the needs of its growing clients.
The laboratory,built through a public-private partnership agreement between the hospital, Lynch Medical Services Limited and Mindray Medical International Limited,will provide services in clinical chemistry, haematology and immunology.
It also has the capacity to provide test results in less than 24 hours, which usually took about a week to be ready in existing laboratories at the hospital.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBTH, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, said laboratory diagnostic services were an important factor in the delivery of medical care, hence the need for high quality, reliable, efficient and prompt laboratory services.
He explained that the hospital receive between 1,500 and 2,500 patients daily, who mostly need laboratory tests, which puts a lot of pressure on the hospital’s central laboratory’s resources and personnel.
“If you see the number of laboratories that are mushrooming across from Korle-Bu, that can give you an indication that probably we are not being as efficient in providing the laboratory services needed,” Dr.Ampomah stated.
He added that the centre would enhance the hospital’s ability to provide prompt, efficient and reliable laboratory serves as a backup to the central laboratory.
Board Chairman of KBTH, Professor David Nkansa-Dwamena, said the project was an example of what could be achieved through a well-structured and regulated public-private partnership agreement.
He said such partnerships would ensure that the hospital became synonymous with first class, accurate and timely provision of laboratory services in addition to other areas of known expertise.
“It is my hope that this addition to our laboratory services will result in improved efficiency, quicker clinical decision-making and enhanced customer satisfaction,” he added.
CEO of Lynch Medical Services, Morris Nyamekye, expressed his gratitude to the management and staff of the hospital for the opportunity to partner with them to bring health services closer to its patients.
He assured the public of excellent and affordable services, adding that in the course of next year, microbiology and pathology services would be added to the laboratory.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri