Copper Pipe Thieves Put Patients' Lives at Risk at Korle Bu Hospital
Accra, Ghana - 06 March, 2025 - A spate of copper pipe thefts is jeopardizing healthcare services at Ghana's premier medical facility, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
The hospital's management has sounded the alarm over the thefts, which are disrupting oxygen supplies to patients.
The thieves are targeting copper pipes, which are crucial for delivering oxygen to various wards. The hospital's acting CEO, Dr. Frank Owusu-Sekyere, has condemned the thefts, citing the significant financial burden they impose on the hospital.
During a tour of the hospital's ongoing renovation projects, Dr. Frank Owusu-Sekyere, the acting CEO, expressed his concerns about the thefts, highlighting the urgent need for improved security measures.
According to him, replacing the stolen pipes is costing the hospital hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian cedis.
“We are more vigilant now. Then to add to it, we are in advance stages of procuring the services of private security to help with the dwindling numbers of our internal security, and if that comes on board, we think that we will be able to secure the place better,'' he stated.
“We have had to resort to CCTV, but these are not monitored in real time, so something happens, you probably may have an idea who might have done it, but by then, the harm has been caused already.
To combat the problem, the hospital is exploring ways to boost security, including hiring private guards and installing CCTV cameras. However, hospital officials acknowledge that the current security measures are inadequate, and the thefts continue to pose a threat to patient care.
“It is ridiculously expensive to fix these copper pipes, so somebody takes a chunk of it for scrap, and we are paying through our noses to have that one fixed. I think the one that we are doing currently is costing us about GHS400,000 for something that somebody may have sold for GHS50,''Dr. Owusu-Sekyere added.
Source: Lead News Online
