TRIBUTE TO THE LATE PROF. JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, BY BOARD, MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL(TTH) We received with profound shock and regret the sudden demise of our beloved President on that fateful Tuesday afternoon of JULY 24TH 2012. Work at the hospital came to a complete standstill- stethoscope dropped from around the necks of Doctors, Pharmacists dropped medicines, Nurses dropped their syringes, Patients looked gloomy and agonized in pain, Administrators congregated to discuss the confirmed news of the death of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. We recall vividly the President’s visit to the hospital during the 2008 Electioneering campaign. His Excellency the President was the only Presidential Candidate to visit the hospital. We recollect his comment on the poor state of the hospital infrastructure and equipment and his promise to make the Rehabilitation of the hospital his top priority when he wins power. True to his word, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills personally visited the Tamale Teaching Hospital to cut sod for the Expansion, Refurbishment and Upgrading including thesupply and installation of Equipment of the hospital on the 20th of April 2010– this was indeed UNPRECEDENTED! We chant the chorus “unprecedented” because since the commissioning of the hospital in 1974, the hospital had not seen any major rehabilitation. It was the dream of His Excellency that the Tamale Teaching Hospital become a major medical tourism destination for the sub-region since Tamale is fast becoming the gateway to the Sahel region of West Africa. It was his dream, that the Tamale Teaching Hospital working hand in hand with the University for Development Studies Medical School will become the hub where doctors and other health professionals will be trained to saturate all parts of the Northern Sector of this country. It was his dream that TTH will become a 1000 bed capacity teaching hospital. If TTH can boast of a new four-storey block with a new Accidents and Emergency Unit with a full complement of modern equipment and a CT scan and MRI machines for advanced imaging- then it is Thanks to HE Prof. Mills. If TTH can boast of modern theatres and equipment, which is not even available in nation’s capital –then it is a mighty Thanks to HE Prof. Mills. If TTH can be proud of a Dedicated Power line and substation; - then it is Thanks to HE Prof. Atta Mills. If TTH can boast of a 60 Unit Staff Accommodation currently under construction and nearing completion – then it is a Gargantuan Thanks to HE Prof. Mills. If TTH and the UDS Medical School can boast of 30 newly trained Medical Doctors and fully trained in Tamale and in the north – then it is Thanks to HE Prof. Mills. We eagerly looked forward to November, 2012 when the major renovation component of the old hospital structure will also be completed and finally handed-over and commissioned by President Atta Mills, but the Good Lord, your maker has called you home to eternity before the “D”day. The Board, Management and Staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital will endeavour to honour your memory by becoming a Centre of Excellence for tertiary care and Medical Education. FARE THEE WELL, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, the Man of Peace and our Man of Action; Rest in Peace.