Hospital to close over funding

By REBECCA KUKU
Kudjip Provincial Hospital in Jiwaka will close on Mar 1, says administrator Dr Scott Dooley.
He told The National that they had to put up the notices in advance to inform and protect the patients.
Dooley said the Government had declared church-run Kudjip Nazarene General Hospital as a provincial hospital for Jiwaka with no financial support.
“We will be shutting our doors by the end of February, if this doesn’t change before then,” he said.
“We are here to serve the people of PNG, but can only do that with the support of the Government through funding.”
Dooley said that the hospital would stop seeing patients from outside of Jiwaka on February 11 and onwards.
“By February 18, we will not be admitting anyone new to the hospital, with the exception of mothers who are about to deliver,” he said.
“We will only be seeing patients in the clinic, and working to discharge those who have already been admitted.
“By February 25, we will not be seeing any new patients, including pregnant mothers.
“The emergency rooms will be closed and we will continue to work to discharge all those who have been admitted.
“By March 1, we will be closed until the Government funds us.
“The Government of PNG promised to treat us equal to other provincial hospitals, but this has not happened.
“We only get a fraction of the funding of other hospitals.
“Furthermore, we were cut out of Government planning this year and they have no reasonable budget plan for us.”
Dooley said that while they understood the impact it would have on many, they were attempting to lessen it, by sharing the closure information so people were informed.
“This issue has been known to both National Department of Health and Government authorities since Nov,” he said.