NEUCE Paints, one of the leading paint manufacturers in Ghana is supporting, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi to repair and paint its doctors' flats to give it a facelift.

The gesture was as a result of a special appeal made to the company by the Chief Executive of KATH, Professor Otchere Addai-Mensah.

The flats numbering 146 and housed in nine blocks, serve as the main residential facilities for doctors in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, which is the main referral facility in the northern sector of the country.

The flats had not seen any major repairs and painting for close to 20 years now leaving them in a decrepit state.

Plans are also far advanced to get another company to sponsor the painting of the adjourning nurses' block.

Mr Manuel Oliveira, Commercial Manger of NEUCE Company, on last Monday visited the hospital to supervise the commencement of the painting works, during which he also paid a courtesy call on the hospital's board.

He told the board that the company was moved to assist in the implementation of the facelift project following a strong appeal made to it by the CEO of the hospital.

Mr Oliveira said the walls of the blocks, which had been severely defaced over the years would be treated before the application of the paints.

Prof. Addai-Mensah, on his part said during one of his numerous rounds of the hospital, he visited the doctors' flats area and was shocked by the depressing state in which they had sunk because they had not been painted for close to 20 years.

'As a junior doctor in the early 2000s, I was staying in one of the flats which were in very pristine condition, so I was quite shocked to see the level of deterioration they had suffered due to lack of repairs and painting over the years', he said.

He said the donation of 174 buckets of high-quality paints by the company had saved management a lot of money as the hospital would now only bear the cost of labour and scaffolds that would be needed for the application of the paints.

In appreciation, Prof. Addai-Mensah, said the board had granted permission to allow the company to use the side elevations for a few of the blocks for branding purposes.

Members of the board lauded the CEO for his intense lobbying drives for external support to improve the operations and facilities at the hospital.

Nana Effah-Apenteng, the board chairman, commended the company for its timely assistance and said the gesture would mark the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship between the hospital and the company.

Mr Fredrick Oppong, Estate Manager of KATH, who took members of the board and the company around the project site, said the first phase of the project which would be completed between the next two to three months, would cover eight blocks.

However, he said the biggest block, popularly called 'blue block' would get its facelift by 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency