Over 200 vacancies at hospital

 THE Port Moresby General Hospital has a staggering 251 positions vacant – many are in its clinical nursing division.

It is now on a recruitment drive seeking graduates and non-graduates who are passionate about care.

The hospital’s human resources manager Rita Geno revealed this grim situation to more than 100 job seekers at a career fair seminar in Port Moresby last Friday.

Geno was blunt, stating that staff shortage impeded efficient response time to clinical diagnosis and treatment.

“The current workforce cannot meet the demand,” Geno admitted, adding the hospital had a staff patient ratio of 1:10 and an ageing workforce at 40%.

Geno started as a payroll officer with the Department of Health, then promoted to payroll manger, overseeing 21 provinces’ payrolls.

She recently graduated with a Diploma of Human Resource Management from the Divine Word University and now is charged to strategically refocus the HR division of the country’s biggest hospital.

The aim is to meet the hospital’s mission – to provide high quality patient care.

“Some of the wards now look like international wards,” Geno said.

She said the hospital was opened in 1957 to cater for residents in Port Moresby alone. 

It can cater for a maximum of 861 staff but only 610 positions are occupied.

The hospital treats more than 400,000 patients from NCD, Central and referrals from other provinces in  a year.

It has 800 beds.

“We are focused on recruiting more nurses,that is the reason we are here today,” Geno said.

“We don’t have the manpower. You are the ones who are going to make it happen,” Geno told job seekers.

She said they wanted nurses who could deliver by caring because nursing was about care.

 She said a starting base salary for a nurse would be K693.01 and with other allowances provided a gross of K1,143 a fortnight.

Geno said interested nurses with certificates, diplomas and degrees could lodge their applications with Air Energi, their selected recruitment company based at Cuthbertson House, downtown Port Moresby.

She said they were recruiting Grade 12 graduates to undergo training starting in June for 18 months.

They should also lodge their application with Air Energi.

Geno said trainees would be paid while they were undergoing  certificate in nursing course.