Doctors move out of hospital for safety

National

Doctors and their families at the Mendi Hospital have been evacuated from the troubled Mendi township since last Friday, according to National Doctors’ Association secretary Dr Sam Yockopua.
Yockopua said that only five doctors, comprising two specialists (a surgeon, obstetrics and gynaecologist) and three medical officers were kept at the hospital to provide emergency cover while their families were evacuated as well.
He said they gave two weeks to responsible leaders to respond to their petition to address the issues before doctors resumed duties.
“National Doctors’ Association (members) always live by our motto, ‘Care for NDA to care for you’, so we had to intervene to care for our members,” Yockopua said.
“We will keep them out of Mendi until things have settled down. Funding for this movement came from Mendi hospital and the Southern Highlands provincial health authority.”
Yockopua said they were still waiting for response and feedback to the petitions given from the hospital management.
“Similar response like that of the national government, nothing specific, that they will restore peace etc. but in fact they were in agreement to our moves.”
Last week, operations at Mendi hospital closed down temporarily while doctors and nurses petitioned the provincial health authority to ensure their safety.
The NDA, nurses association and corporate and support services presented their petitions to Southern Highlands Health Authority acting chief executive Ben Walom.