Power and Water are two fundamental resources for running a Hospital.
This was stated by the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority’s (WHPHA) acting Chief Executive officer Jane Holden during the commissioning of a new 550kVA generator and a southern cross water pump for the Mt. Hagen Hospital yesterday.
She said the new generator will power the hospital campus 24/7 when required while the Southern Cross Water Pump will increase water pressure in all the wards, departments and the entire hospital campus as well.
With Frequent blackouts in the District recently, supply of power to the Provincial hospital is always affected and poses great risk of damaging expensive medical equipment.
The hospital was than running on two generators every day, the 500 kVA and 350 kVA, of which the hospital advised that both are old, especially the 350kVA.
The new 550kVA generator will replace the old and existing 350kVA generator and support the other 500 kVA to supply the provincial hospital power in the event of blackouts.
The PHA thanks the National Department of Health (NDOH) for allocating the Capital funds to support the hospital and the local contractor, Massip Engineering and Consultant Ltd for delivering the project.
Meanwhile, WHPHA stated that paying for the generator’s diesel is also a challenge, as it is not funded in the operational budget and expect at the current rate to exceed K1.5 million this year on fuel costs.
