Public Relations Practice in the Health Care System in Ghana: A Case of Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the role public relations plays in the management of health organization. The importance of Public relations has been confused by many organizations unaware of its position in the success of the organization as it seeks to be understood by various publics. Public relations has not been recognized as a critical management function by organizations. It has not been placed properly and therefore has been approached in a haphazard and disorganized manner. These factors created a concern and stimulated interest to venture into this research. The study was descriptive and employed questionnaires as data collection instrument. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages). The major finding of the study was that the role of public relations as a management tool was not well defined. It was mixed-up and randomly done. Patients were satisfied with communication with both medical and non-medical staff. Based on the results, the study concluded that in order for the Greater Accra Regional Hospital to remain relevant and be understood by its various publics, there was need for the organisation to set up a comprehensive and well integrated PR strategy.