Professor Frimpong-Boateng Pledges...

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Founder of National Cardiothoracic Centre on Tuesday pledged to continue to advocate for the independence of the Centre and other institutions of excellence at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. �I will resist any attempt by the hospital�s administration to take-over the centre as it is already helpless in solving myriad of problems confronting the hospital. I believe in the total financial and administrative independence of institutions of excellence at the hospital to operate efficiently and effectively.� These are National Diabetes Centre, National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit and the National Cardiothoracic Centre. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng made the pledge in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday and copied to Ghana news Agency (GNA). He was dismissed from the Centre in a letter written by Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh on Thursday, August 25 without any reason. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng returned to Ghana to practice as Ghana's first locally-based cardiothoracic surgeon, and established the National Cardiothoracic Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in 1992 as there was no cardiothoracic surgery facility in the country at the time. He also runs a charitable foundation, Ghana Heart Foundation that is responsible for paying for heart surgery for some indigent Ghanaians under his care. In the statement, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng pointed out that the embarrassment could have been averted if he (Prof. Frimpong-Boateng) had been called for an interaction on the issue and noted that the letter sent to him did not make sense because it was illogical to terminate an honorary appointment. �I have always made it clear to the Korle-Bu Hospital Management Team and the Hospital�s Board that it will be most unfortunate and unwise for them to take over the financial management of the institutions of excellence, �he added.