A new staff clinic and four (4) on-call rooms for Doctors’ and Health extension Officers (HEOs) were opened yesterday at the Mt Hagen General Hospital by Acting PHA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jonah Kurubi.
The main purpose of having the staff clinic and on-call rooms is to manage risk and promote the safety of both the staff and patients in the hospital hence a hospital that runs 24/7 and has very high trauma rates and limited staff must have Doctors (registrars and residents) on call.
We have refurbished 4 rooms (from 8) and a staff clinic at a total cost of almost K60,000 to allow comfort and safety for those on call – O&G, Pediatrics, Surgery and Medicine. The availability of these rooms is to ensure staff can sleep on site and are available quickly if needed without having to call out drivers, pick them up and drop them off. This should ensure a more timely response to urgent patient demand.
Acting CEO Dr Kurubi says both facilities are equally important because the wellbeing of the staff and patience are the PHA’s number one priority.
He says Staff are critical to providing health services and they should be both role models a healthy. We have an aging health workforce, something the whole country faces, we want to ensure we provide support to our staff to focus on wellness and monitor any chronic health conditions. With the establishment of a staff health clinic supported by ICT.
The staff clinic will have a database to manage sick leaves and staff profiling and if a staff may have a disease beyond the specialties of Mt Hagen General Hospital the PHA will assist the staff in seeking medical attention elsewhere. This is because the Health and safety of the staff is a priority.
Dr. Kurubi also stays the staff clinic is an integrated model and it is the first in Mt Hagen, the PHA also plans to go out to the districts soon.
Funding for these projects was from the Bori family. The family at Late John Bori’s funeral donated K100, 000 for the PHA without any directions for how it would be spent. The PHA used this funding to ensure and prioritize the safety of patients and staff
The remainder of funds will be used to contribute to the purchase of equipment for wellness clinics in our rural facilities as well as to create a sewing room that will be staffed by volunteers to provide Meri Bags – these will be issued freely to women and girls through facilities and school health programs to provide sanitary support during menstruation. The room will finished this year and we hope that in partnership with Rotary the Meri Bags will be ready for ongoing distribution in early 2024.
The PHA further acknowledges business houses, individuals and corporate organizations who have been supporting the Hospital and other operations of the PHA.
