Mt Hagen General Hospital is being equipped with a staff clinic and four on-call rooms for doctors and health extension officers (HEOs).
Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority acting chief executive officer, Dr Jonah Kurubi officially opened the new facilities on Monday 7th August, 2023.
The staff clinic and on-call rooms were established to manage risk and promote the safety of both staff and patients in the hospital hence; a hospital that runs 24/7 and has very high trauma rates and limited staff must have Doctors (registrars and residents) on call.
“We have refurbished four rooms and a staff clinic at a cost of almost K60,000 to allow comfort and safety for those on call – O&G, Pediatrics, Surgery and Medicine.
“The availability of these rooms is to ensure staff can sleep on site and are available quickly if needed without having to call out drivers, pick them up and drop them off. This should ensure a more timely response to urgent patient demand,” said acting CEO Dr Kurubi.
He said both facilities are equally important because the well-being of the staff and the patience are of priority. Adding that the hospital staff are critical to providing health services and they should be both role models and healthy.
“We have an aging health workforce, something the whole country faces, we want to ensure we provide support to our staff to focus on wellness and monitor any chronic health conditions. With the establishment of a staff health clinic supported by ICT.
“The staff clinic will have a database to manage sick leave and staff profiling. And in the event that a staff may have a disease beyond the specialties of Mt Hagen General Hospital, the PHA will assist the staff seek medical attention elsewhere. This is because health and safety of staff is priority.”
Dr Kurubi reiterated that the staff clinic is an integrated model and it is the first in Mt Hagen with plans to go out to the districts soon.