Naru boosts hospital

 By CLEMENT KAUPA

BUTAWENG Hospital administrator Joana Kaupa texted for help to buy an K8,500 blood analyser machine for the Finschaffen health facility on Tuesday and immediately received K100,000 yesterday.

The same text netted K50,000 for the Lugaweng Lutheran seminary to fix their ailing generator and a new Toyota Land Cruiser for the Braun Community Health Workers school.

The K100,000 is in addition to a K500,000 allocation made by the Morobe provincial government to the hospital this year.

 “In my experience, we receive a lot of false promises but this is the first time that help came without a promise,” Kaupa confessed to Morobe Governor Kelly Naru who gave her the cheques.

Director medical services Dr Christer Thumbster said medicine and faith played major roles in healing but they needed equipment to diagnose ailments.

“We thank you Governor Naru for the quick response,” Thumbster said. 

District administrator Karl Baka told Naru the hospital service extended beyond the 46,000-plus population of Finschaffen to Morobe and other parts of the country.

There are more than 70 staff members, two overseas doctors, a local doctor and more than 200 inpatients, far surpassing the capacity of Angau Memorial in Lae, the second largest referral centre in the country.  

Baka said more local doctors were required.

“We depend on foreign doctors most of the time but when they are not available, the people suffer terribly,” Baka said.

He said past funding had been insufficient to buy adequate supplies.