Mendi hospital gets new generator

THE Mendi General Hospital in Southern Highlands province has received a new generator set from Petroleum Resources Kutubu (PRK) Limited.
The recently accredited five-star health facility now owns a 400KVA generator worth K300,000.
Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) Ltd managing director Augustine Mano, presented the generator set to hospital board deputy chairman Alex Awesa in Mendi.
Also present were acting SHP Governor Pr Isaac Joseph, Imbonggu MP Francis Awesa and provincial health adviser Thomas Anda.
PRK is one of the companies managed by MRDC.
The main beneficiaries are the Kutubu and Kikori landowners, Southern Highlands and the Gulf provincial governments.
Mendi General Hospital serves more than 600,000 people.
It is also a major referral hospital for other sub-district hospitals and health centres within SHP.
The hospital deals with all sorts of cases ranging from major accidents to emergencies and surgical treatments.
The hospital receives electricity supplied by PNG Power Ltd from its main Ramu grid but supply was often disrupted during power outages.
This had often led to critical accidents, emergency and surgical cases left unattended to in the operating room, thus causing life-threatening situations for patients.
“The generator will ensure health services are continued even when there is a power failure in Mendi,” Mr Mano said.
Hospital chief executive officer Joe Turian said: “This generator will power our operations during blackouts and it will also supply electricity to 16 doctors’ houses, 12 technical staff houses and two nursing quarters.”
Mr Turian said after the hospital’s standby generator broke down last September, he wrote to the Health Department requesting a replacement but was told to wait until the next budget session.
MRDC took up the challenge and stepped in.
PRK also approved K150,000 to buy vital health equipment for the Kikori Health centre.
The centre serves most of the PRK pipeline beneficiaries such as the Ikobi Kaisel Pera, Rumu, Kibiri and Kerowa tribes.