Another year begins and the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) dedicated its working year 2022 to the Lord with the theme ‘In God we trust – In health we work together’.
The dedication service was held at the hospital’s administration premises led by the Karokoukouna Ministry group with Pastor Dora Kua and group of hospital chaplains.
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Paki Molumi while appreciating the dedication of the hospital workforce in these trying times, expounded on three targets set by the management for the year.
First is the expectation to see the quality of patients care to improve from 60 percent to 95 percent by end of the year in terms of better quality and accurate treatment, better healthier meals for patients, proper beds and bedding and shorter waiting time for treatment.
Secondly, he said the hospital has to focus on revenue generation. Dr Molumi explained that from what portion the Health Department will allocate to the hospital, it has to generate its own income and together with the Friends of POMGEN the can be able to meet the daily needs of patients and staff.
He said each of the wards will be given a target amount to collect from in-patients and the expected amount will be according to the number of beds in each ward. There are about 1000 beds within the Port Moresby General Hospital.
Thirdly, the management understands that a satisfied workforce delivers better service than an unsatisfied one. Thus staff benefits and conditions will be reviewed especially the COVID-19 allowances from 2020 to 2021 that were submitted to the authorities for consideration but was rejected.
Dr Molumi added that the management is still pursuing this so that those frontline workers are compensated.
Meantime, Director for Medical Services, Dr Koni Sobi said one of the focus for this year would be to have more awareness on the situation of the workforce.
“The hand that feeds us, the Government of PNG have a number of expectations from us which we have to meet. Unless we have that understanding, there’s going to be conflict.”
Dr. Sobi said staff demanded for many things and the management tried to pursue their requests with relevant authorities but nothing is forthcoming.
He concluded that the management has to make it clear to the staff on the processes involved in getting what they want.
“Let us work together, collaborate and have an understanding to moving this organization forward. Let us adapt and live within our means.
“Remember, the Health Department got the largest slice of the budget for this country at K2.5 billion, but this is not enough to meet all the health needs of the country,” he added.
Dr. Sobi has encouraged the hospital staff to adjust, set their compass and course within the budget limits. It is up to the management to solicit help from stakeholders and partners.