KATH Doctors to Withdraw Services Saturday Over CEO Suspension
Medical doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital will begin a total withdrawal of services at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2026, in protest of the suspension of the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer.
The decision was reached Friday during an emergency meeting of the Komfo Anokye Doctors Association (KODA), convened to review recent events at the hospital, particularly the severe congestion in the Emergency Department.
The KADA said management’s decision to temporarily stop new emergency admissions and coordinate with nearby health facilities was a clinical intervention meant to prevent avoidable deaths amid extreme capacity pressure.
The doctors expressed dismay that instead of support, the CEO faced disciplinary sanctions. They described the Minister’s action as unjustified and counterproductive to solving KATH’s deeper problems.
The association noted that Komfo Anokye remains the main tertiary referral centre for the middle and northern parts of Ghana, yet it continues to function under severe infrastructural constraints while patient numbers keep rising.
According to KADA, the current crisis reflects systemic challenges that demand urgent policy and infrastructure fixes, not sanctions against leaders trying to manage them.
The doctors will stay off duty until three conditions are met: First, the suspension of the CEO must be reviewed and reversed. Second, the KATH Board must issue clear policies on managing emergency overflow, including when it is clinically safe to restrict admissions. Third, the Ministry of Health must give timelines for making Sewua Hospital and Afari Military Hospital operational, and for retooling KATH and other Ashanti Region hospitals to reduce pressure on the facility.
KADA also said it will engage the public and stakeholders through the media to highlight the chronic gap between patient demand and available resources at KATH and across the country.
The doctors stressed that the withdrawal is not meant to disrupt care but to force national attention on patient safety, clinical governance, and the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s second-largest teaching hospital.
The association has called on the KATH Board to urgently engage the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to resolve the impasse and prevent further disruption to healthcare delivery. KADA reaffirmed its commitment to patient welfare and to providing safe, ethical, and evidence-based care.
As of Friday night, the Ministry of Health and the KATH Board had not issued a response.
With the strike set to take effect Saturday morning, patients seeking emergency care may have to rely on alternative facilities in Kumasi and surrounding areas.
Story by Hajara Fuseini
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