PNG Ports pays for hospital scanner

THE PNG Port Corporation Limited has handed over a cheque of K149,762.80 to the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) to buy an ultrasound scanner for its Emergency and Critical Care Unit.
PNG Ports chairman Nathaniel Poya said Government-run health facilities such as the hospital faced a shortage of doctors and equipment, plus poor facilities.
“These issues have a drastic effect on the health sector, particularly on patients and the population who have sought medical attention from hospitals such as the Port Moresby General Hospital,” Poya said.
“Lives have been lost and people continue to suffer from health problems that can be treated when given the correct medical attention.”
Emergency and Critical Care Unit head Dr Bobby Wellsh said the machine would enable them to have a window into patients’ diagnosis which would improve care.
Wellsh said they were trained overseas to operate such machines but they were not available here.
“This donation would greatly assist in saving lives.”
Dr Leslie Kawa said the machine had three functions – to scan the heart, scan blood vessels in the neck, legs or abdomen and scan other parts of the body particularly the lungs. “It’s three in one and built in such a way that it is very compact,” Kawa said.
“You don’t need to get the patient to come to you to actually use this machine. You literally carry the machine to the patients and do the test.”