Korle Bu Teaching Hospital renal dialysis unit accrues additional GHC2 million debt

The Renal Dialysis unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is facing renewed financial challenges, accumulating a debt of GHC2 million for treating kidney patients, just three months after the government cleared an initial debt of GH₵4 million incurred by the unit.

Dr. Owusu Sekyere, the Director of Medical Affairs at KBTH, attributed the ongoing financial strain to the

Read full articlefact that renal patients only contribute half of the dialysis treatment cost.

“We are also a preview to the fact that the cost of Korle Bu Teaching hospital performing one dialysis is well over GHC720 cedis, and patients are paying GHC380, so there is a difference of about GHC380 or GHC400 that needs to be looked at,” he said in an interview on Joy FM.

“I think that is what led to the shutdown initially then we got consignment and there was a huge discussion about it. There was a bill of GHC4 million cedis that have been accumulated because of the exchange rate and then other things that happened which have been cleared but the fact remains that we still haven’t tackled the difference in the cost.

“Since we opened, giving dialysis at that rate till now, I don’t think it is strange to know that we have accumulated another GHC2 million bill,” he added.

The Renal Unit faced a shutdown in May 2023, attributing the situation to the removal of tax and excise duty exemption on medical consumables. The resulting GHC4 million debt was settled after engagements with the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, leading to the reopening of the unit on Monday, November 6.