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The new Chief Executive of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Joseph Akpaloo has told the management, staff and patients of the hospital to brace themselves up for a difficult 2015. According to him, additional burden of paying for electricity usage and water would exert �tremendous pressure on the finances� of the hospital, coupled with rising cost of medical consumables and equipment amid a largely stagnating tariff regime. Dr Akpaloo who assumed office in October last year was speaking at an annual thanksgiving service and joint staff reception of the hospital in Kumasi. In recent times, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has disconnected electricity to government institutions for non-payment of electricity bills. Currently, such institutions including hospitals are to cater for their bills from their internally generated funds. Dr Akpaloo was convinced that with the bitter lessons learnt in 2014, the staff and management must learn to operate with the efficiency of private sector operators but with the compassion of a public sector health facility, to enable the hospital surmount the problems. Achieving such a balance would require training, orientation and commitment on the part of management and staff and called for a complete review of the mode of operations with the view to reducing waste. Simple things This, he added, would demand the efficient ways of delivering services in order to generate the needed funds to cover the hospital�s operational expenses. Dr Akpaloo suggested that the implementation of simple things like being disciplined and customer cantered and turning off taps, air conditioners and lights when not in use, would come in handy. Priorities He said some priorities of management for the 2015 would be to initiate measures to further improve staff discipline and attitudes to work and getting state support for the continuation of works on the 38-year old Maternity and Children�s block. It also included the replacement of the 20-year old obsolete lifts at the �GEE� blocks and an aged oxygen plant.