Patients fight over beds in Mt Hagen

National, Normal
Source:

The National- Thursday, January 20, 2011

 By JAMES APA GUMUNO

THE Mt Hagen General Hospital’s 75-bed surgical unit has been reduced by half at the resulting in patients fighting over the limited beds available.

According to doctors yesterday, this has put pressure on the rural health centres, which have to cope with surgical patients who are recovering are sent back to their districts to seek medication at their nearest health centres.

Dr Micheal Dokup said the doctors working at the hospital were visiting the surgical patients recovering back in their districts on a weekly basis.

He said due to the three specialists’ surgeons working with the hospital the number of surgical patients increases dramatically this year.

Dokup said some surgical patients were admitted in other wards in the hospital.

The old surgical ward building was demolished in 2008 to make way for a new surgical ward.

Hospital chief executive officer Dr James Kintwa said the contractor was slow on the construction of the new surgical ward building.

Kintwa said the contractor had completed the foundation but since it was not built properly, the building engineers from the Works Department told the contractor to re-build the foundation.

He said this was another delay and they were waiting for the contractor to return and remove the old building foundation and build a new one according to proper designs.

He said the shortage of surgical beds at the hospital was likely to continue until the new building was finished.

The new building would cater for up 75 surgical patients at any one time.

Kintwa said in the meantime, the hospital was doing its best to avoid overcrowding.