Mother Association
History of Mother Association -AHSAG
AHSAG started as an Association of Health Services Administration Students at the School of Administration (now Business School), University of Ghana, Legon in the 1960s. It was formally established in 1975 as an autonomous and non-profit Association embracing all Health Services Administrators then called Hospital Secretaries. Prior to that only a few foreign-trained Health Service Administrators were in Ghana. These Administrators were sponsored by the then government of Ghana to undergo training in health service management in the United Kingdom as there was no institution in Ghana to locally train the Administrators.
Those Administrators trained in the United Kingdom included:
- Chinery – 1st Ghanaian Chief Hospital Secretary
- Tachie
- W.A.K Sowah
- Richter
- Marfo
- Saba
- Twum Ampofo
The training of the Administrators in the United Kingdom went on till a Department of Public Administration and Management was established at the School of Administration (now Business School) of the University of Ghana, Legon. This was after Ghana had attained independence in 1957 when the then President, Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah thought it prudent to train more Administrators in Ghana to carry out the day-to-day administration of hospitals to free Doctors to do their clinical duties.
The first batch of Administrators who came out from the School of Administration at University of Ghana, Legon were:
- M.O. France
- C.T. Kpene
- E.O. Mantey
As of 1970, there were less than twenty (20) Hospital Secretaries in the country. The group though limited in number, realized the wisdom in coming together first as a professional body and later as a social group. Consequently, the group in1974 decided to form an Association to promote its welfare and set standards for the performance of the Hospital Administrators in Ghana. The Association was named ‘The Association of Hospital Secretaries’.
The Chief Hospital Secretary at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health became an automatic chairman of the Association. Messrs Chinery, W.A.K. Sowah and R.D. Tackie were some of the Chief Hospital Secretaries who assumed automatic headship of the Association. By 1979, membership of the Association had increased but was not very committed. The historic meeting of July 1982 at the fourth floor of Surgical Block, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra re-engineered the Association. At the end of the meeting, a draft constitution was ratified and adopted. Formal elections were conducted with the following as Executives:
- M. O. France
- C.T. Kpene
- E.K. Ackon
- Late Mr. J. A. Tawiah
- Albert Asiedu-Ofei
- Victoria Dako
- Evelyn Asiedu-Ofei
Messrs K. Addai-Donkoh and Kofi Opoku represented the newly qualified members of the Association and were termed as ‘Revolutionarists’. The Association could not meet in 1983 but met at the Surgical Ward of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where new officers were elected in 1984 for a two-year term. In 1985, an emergency executive meeting was convened at Tamale to pass a resolution against transfers made by the then Minister of Health which was seen as lopsided. The late Mr. M.O. France presided over this historic meeting. Members present included:
- C.T. Kpene
- Thomas Mensah
- E.T Tidakbi
- E.K. Ackon
- J.A. Tawiah
- I.K. Appiah
- S.A. Akrong
- K. Addai-Donkoh
- A. Asiedu-Ofei
- Kofi Opoku
- Gabriel Adu
- Kofi Poku
- The late Gabriel Adu
The support received by the Association from Dr. Sam Bugri the then Regional Medical Officer of Health, and the Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) was tremendous. In 1986, the maiden Annual Conference of the Association was successfully held in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital after which Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of the Association have been held in various parts of the country.
Through the untiring efforts of the then Executive Committee and with the guidance of Prof. S.A Amoah (the then Director General of GIMPA), the title ‘Hospital Secretary’ was changed in 1989 to ‘Health Service Administrator’ for those who worked in Hospitals and ‘Regional Health Service Administrator’; or those at Regional Health Administration. The Association also changed its name ‘Association of Hospital Secretaries’ to what it is presently called, Association of Health Service Administrators, Ghana (AHSAG).
The name ‘Hospital Secretary’ gave the impression that the job of Administrators was mere secretarial work. The change in name, therefore, brought in its wake a cloak of respectability to the profession since people then realized that the job of Hospital Service Administrators was more than mere secretarial or clerical work.
The Association was officially registered with the Registered General Department on 14th July 1995 with registration No. G.167 and was issued with Certificate of Incorporation under the Companies Code of Ghana, 1963 (Act 179). The following acted as the first Executive Council Members at the time of the incorporation of the Association.
- Winfred Annan Kofi
- Victoria Dako
- Peter Mensah
- Stephen Amakye Lartey
- Evelyn Asiedu-Ofei
- Emmanuel Tidakbi
- Thomas Mensah
MOTHER ASSOCIATION WEBSITE
http://www.ahsag.org.gh