The Chief Executive Officer of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, has disclosed that the initial $10 million budget for the Heal KATH Project has escalated significantly due to the rising cost of building materials and services.

He made this known during a donation ceremony at the hospital, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presented medical equipment worth $100,000 to support healthcare delivery.

According to Dr. Baidoo, the hospital continues to face enormous pressure on its facilities, with faulty equipment, limited bed space, and inadequate infrastructure affecting service delivery.

“The progress of work on the rehabilitation of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital risks delay due to the inflated costs of building materials and equipment,” Dr. Baidoo said, noting that the situation has also affected medical diagnosis as the hospital’s only MRI machine operates with faults while all CT scanners remain nonfunctional.

He therefore appealed for continuous support from Ghanaians and benevolent institutions to ensure the successful completion of the Heal KATH project.

“We want to assure Ghanaians that the Heal KATH will be completed. And we use this to appeal for support. Prices of materials have escalated and that explains why there is escalation of the initial 10 million set to Heal KATH.

“We have lots of needs: we have just one MRI, working at fault, yet expensive to get another one. We try to repair faulty CT scans. It’s our duty to provide quality health care but we can’t shoulder that burden alone, and that is why we continue to plead and ask for donations,” he said.

Describing the donation from the Church as timely, Dr. Baidoo said the equipment will help relieve pressure on the hospital’s overstretched facilities.

“Considering the number of people who come here, there is pressure on our services and equipment which lead to frequent breakdowns. The equipment that were donated, these are things we use every single day. And over the years we have tried to procure most of them,” he added.

The equipment valued at $100,000 included 10 dual ABS medicine trolleys, 15 hydraulic patient stretchers, 20 patient monitors, 40 cardiac tables, 40 drip stands, 15 medicine trolleys, 30 wheelchairs, 30 folding bed screens, 15 electric hospital beds, 10 bedside lockers, and 15 crash trolleys.

The President of the Africa West Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Alfred Kyungu, said the gesture reflects the church’s faith and commitment to living a Christ-like life.

“We have tried to live the teaching we got from Jesus Christ. He teaches comfort for those who are in need, and we aim to apply them in our daily lives. So this intervention is a motivation to express our love to anyone in need in this facility,” he said.