By Oluwadara Adebisi,Samuel Obour
Copyright yen
Dr Harry Akoto has stated that Korle Bu Hospital lost over 300 skilled health workers abroad between January and June 2025He disclosed that inadequate pay motivated many to leave, seeking significantly better earnings in foreign countriesDr Akoto also added that poor working conditions also contributed to the exodus, urging the government to take initiative
Dr Harry Akoto, the Deputy Medical Director of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has shared some disturbing insights into the brain drain crisis affecting the hospital.
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital management raised this issue during a needs assessment conducted by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (MahamaCares).
Korle Bu faces mass health worker relocation
Dr Akoto, during his conversation with the press, pointed out how over 300 health workers had left the institution to seek other opportunities abroad in the space of six months at the beginning of the year.
According to him, these healthcare workers were ‘highly skilled and highly specialised’.
In his words:
“When we looked at our data, we had approximately 300 people leaving between January and June this year, and these are people who are highly skilled and highly specialised. They are not people who come just out of school.”
The deputy medical director also identified two possible reasons for the mass exodus. According to him, the main driver is inadequate pay.
He said some of the relocated health workers would have felt they could earn significantly more money working in other countries.
The second reason he gave was a poor work environment. He noted that some staff left because they were unhappy with their working conditions.
“And the factors are multifactorial. Some of it is based on a poor work environment, when people are not happy with where they work. But the bigger chunk of it is because of remuneration. People feel they can get more out there than here.”
He ended by urging the government to address the brain drain holistically and to ramp up the training of more nurses to ensure Ghana has enough healthcare professionals to meet its own needs.
Watch his speech about the hospital’s brain drain in the video below:
Reactions to loss of Korle Bu staff
YEN.com.gh has collected reactions below from Ghanaians who watched the video on X.
@Dan_Laad_Guda said:
“I don’t get it… We train them, pay them allowances, and they live just ladat. I think there should be a form of bond to be signed between the state and these nurses to serve a certain amount of period before they can leave.”
@Mrr_Grace suggested:
“Train more nurses and besides, there’re a lot of these unemployed nurses sitting at home. Employ them!”
@That_Blvk_Boy commented:
“The government you’re crying to is about sending the rest to Serbia. 🤣”
@FluentLimited said:
“It’s hard to see so many skilled professionals leave, and stronger support at home could make a real difference.”
Nurse at Korle Bu earns international award
YEN.com.gh had earlier reported that a Korle Bu nurse had won the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2025.
Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti was chosen from more than 100,000 nominations in 199 countries and won a $250,000 cash prize.
The Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award recognises exceptional nurses who have shown strong leadership in the field.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
