Army medics in hospital

ELEVEN medical doctors from the United States (US) Army have joined local doctors at Port Moresby General Hospital in providing medical services since last Monday, and will continue till this Thursday (April 18).
US ambassador Ann Marie Yatishock, while visiting the team on Thursday at the hospital, said that was the second batch of doctors and it was made possible through the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) signed last year.
Yatishock said the first batch comprised of 10 members who were at the hospital in December, 2023 and were there for 10 days.
“In the last rotation, there were about a 100 different interventions with patients and around 17 surgeries in those 10 days,” she said.
She said, since last Monday, there had been at least four surgeries done, which was incredible.
“With the current rotation, I am sure, they’ll be opportunities to experience the health and wellbeing of both, the visiting team and local doctors and also build the friendship,” she said.
She said that there were plans on signing agreements that would allow more regular quarterly rotations that would bring in teams from US, Korea and other countries.
“We look forward to providing continued opportunities for the rotations and other help that we can provide under the DCA,” she said. The hospital’s director medical service Dr Kone Sobi said the doctors were separated and were engaged at the hospital’s emergency department, main operating theatre and Intensive Care Unit.
Sobi also clarified that no new agreement would be signed but the hospital would incorporate the DCA agreement specifically in health engagement.
“We are not doing a new agreement but we will incorporate, specifying the health engagement in the health space,” he said.
“We are planning to have four teams in a year so every quarter, there will be four teams coming.
“So this will be for this quarter and there is another team that is preparing to come next month but it will be a smaller team.
“That team would be based at the operating theatre only.
“They’ve got three surgeons and a nurse and two technicians.”