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Kokoda Memorial Hospital
On August 16 I returned from yet another F.A.I.M. visit to Kokoda Memorial Hospital.
Myself and four other volunteers were requested to go to the hospital to insert a new liner in one of the leaking 10,000 gallon water tanks, to install additional solar lights, to place a new floor in one of the guest house bedrooms, to supervise the construction of a rock Gasbian wall following a landslip and to upgrade the water supply from the storage dam to the hospital and town of Kokoda.
As a member of the Kokoda Memorial Hospital Committee and one of the Project Co-ordinators, I also wanted to check the details of an RDU letter published in the June RDU which disturbed me greatly.
The letter on page 11 in the mailbox section has disturbed greatly many of the 300-400 volunteers who helped construct the Kokoda Memorial Hospital.
I have found most of the facts in the letter to be incorrect and misleading.
1. The letter gives the impression there is only one nurse on duty at Kokoda hospital. A check with the hospital and the Health Dept at Popondetta confirms there are six nursing staff working at the hospital.
2. It was stated, “the hospital was built in the late 1970’s”. This is untrue. The hospital was built in 1995 and officially opened in September 1995.
3. It was also stated “the staff had been dissolved to one person.” In fact it has increased and now has a maintenance/plant operator on the staff as well as the original nursing staff positions.
4. It was suggested “one nurse looks after the whole of the Oro Province” which is ridiculous.
5. The letter suggested, “training of nurses had great merit”. It should be noted five or six nurses at Kokoda have been sponsored by Rotary and spent time training in Australian hospitals. Also a hospital matron from a large hospital in Australia spent a lot of time at Kokoda Hospital organising and training nurses. A qualified Rotarian dentist also travelled to Kokoda and helped train the dental nurse at the hospital.
6. For some time the Rotary Kokoda Hospital Committee has been concerned there has not been a permanent doctor appointed to Kokoda. Rotary has erected a two storey Doctor’s residence on site awaiting a doctor. A recent interview with the Health Dept at Popondetta has confirmed the appointment of a doctor to Kokoda is currently being negotiated with the PNG National Government.
Bob Young
Rotary Club of Taree, N.S.W.
Past Governor, District 9650
Kokoda staff is
dedicated group
I write in reference to letters that have appeared in Rotary Down Under recently regarding the hospital at Kokoda in Papua New Guinea.
This hospital was built by Rotary volunteers in 1995. I had the pleasure of working on this hospital on two occasions. It was opened by Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1996.
I understand from nurses who have visited Taree, N.S.W., recently it has a staff of at least three registered nurses and a number of nursing aides under supervision of a manager.
To say that one nurse is responsible for health of entire province 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year is quite misleading.
The entire staff is a dedicated group working to maintain a medical service under difficult conditions. Two of these nurses have been in Taree for four weeks recently, under the sponsorship of Rotary clubs in Taree to improve their nursing skills. This has been occurring each year since the hospital opened.
Since it opened it has been consistently maintained by a number of teams that visit the hospital each year under guidance of Rotarian Bob Young who was heavily involved in the construction of the hospital.
A team under the leadership of Bob Young has recently returned from Kokoda where maintenance work was undertaken to secure the water supply and to maintain a new generator which provides power for the hospital. Many other items of equipment has also been supplied by Rotary.
This hospital provides an essential service for the people of the area.
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