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| Mendi hospital to close | |
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By ANDREW ALPHONSE AUTHORITIES have planned to shut down the Mendi General Hospital in the Southern Highlands province following the theft of its ambulance. Police have not recovered the vehicle. Hospital chief executive officer Joe Turian told The National in Mendi over the weekend that criminals held up the driver and took the vehicle as it was dropping off nightshift workers at Tente at around 10:30pm on April 19. According to reports, the vehicle was last sighted at Pongal village in Upper Mendi. Despite reports being made to Mendi police, no attempts have been made to recover the ambulance. Mr Turian said this is the third time a hospital vehicle has been taken by thugs. Mr Turian said he had also send a brief to Police Commissioner Gari Baki about police ineffectiveness in retrieving the vehicle last week. Reports said following this correspondence, Mr Baki had ordered Assistant Police Commissioner (Highlands) Simon Kauba to instruct Mendi police to do something about the vehicle but, to date, no action has been taken. Mr Turian said the hospital management had an emergency meeting in Mendi over the weekend and resolved that they would shut down the hospital if the vehicle is not returned by 4pm today. He said the outpatient ward for both adults and children and the dental section would be closed and no admissions would be allowed. Only current in-patient and emergency cases will be attended to by a skeletal staff. The hospital has more than 300 staff and also serves as the general hospital for referral cases from Ialibu and Tari districts. Meanwhile, Mr Turian said the hospital has lost more than K25,000 worth of office equipment during a power surge in Mendi two weeks ago. Among the equipment damaged were three computers, printer, fax copier, photo copier and a radio battery charger worth more than K15,000. |
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