Partnership to rehab health training schools

 THE Health Department and the Australian Government are partnering to rehabilitate training schools for health workers in the country, Health Secretary Pascoe Kase says.

Kase said a new school was also being built by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Lae.

He said most of the schools which received support were graduating more students.

“We are seeing the returns of our investments,” Kase said.  

He said the churches had contributed as well and there were more nurses and community health workers coming out of the schools.

Kase said Kimbe Nursing College would be launched and the Arawa and Boram schools would be reopened this year. 

He said as part of the infrastructure programme, “we are also rehabilitating staff housing which have been neglected over many years”.

Kase said they were working with the Department of Personnel Management (DPM) to effect regulatory changes for human resources management in public hospitals and provincial health authorities. 

“Working with the DPM and Finance, we are rolling out the Alesco payroll for all the hospitals,” he said.  “It is our desire that all church health workers are put on the Alesco payroll this year.”  

Kase said the department planned to strengthen university education for medicine and health sciences and rural health management programmes to produce more doctors and health managers in rural areas.

He said the partnership would result in better outcome.