Mendi hospital boosts water supply after upgrading system

National

By PETER WARI
THE Mendi General Hospital in Southern Highlands has upgraded its water supply system by fixing a second bore that has been sitting idle for many years.
It has a new pump installed and all the rusty pipes have been replaced with polypipes.
The bore is about 21 metres deep and there are now two functioning and interchangeable bores to avoid overuse. Southern Highlands health authority chief executive Dr Joseph Birisi said a second Southern Cross system was installed as well, replacing the old one with a complete ultra-violet water treatment system.
“We have a complete water supply system for the hospital and we’ll look at supplying both the hospital and staff accommodation, depending on water capacity,” he said.
“We have also installed a complete set of laundry equipment for the hospital, replacing the old ones which were installed when the hospital opened in 1974.”
Birisi said the laundry equipment included washers, spinners, heaters and dryers.
“We were without a dryer for many years and we usually dried our linens, theatre drapes and gowns in the sun,” he said.
“When the weather was bad, we usually cancelled theatre operations due to non-availablity of gowns and drapes.
“Now that is something of the past and with the new laundry equipment installed, everything is done indoors, packed and distributed to the wards.
“Our laundry staff have been trained and are fully utilising it.”
Birisi said the hospital’s big challenge next year would be to fix the sewerage system.
He said when the hospital secures some funds, it would do a major overhaul to cater for the population and service demand.
“We also want to roll out a standard waste management system for all our major rural health facilities for the Southern Highlands health authority,” Birisi said.
“We are liaising with the Migende District Hospital in Chimbu.
“They have the capacity and trained personnel to build for us.”