By Mickey Kavera – EM TV, Port Moresby
The Modilion General Hospital, in Madang Province, is developing a new mortuary policy.
The hospital was forced to take this stand following continuous negligence by the general public in claiming and taking the bodies of their loved ones from the facility, for proper burial.
In February this year, a mass burial was organised for unclaimed bodies.
Interim CEO of the hospital, Christine Gawi, hopes the policy will alleviate the pressure placed on the hospital.
She says, space is a pressing concern for the current morgue, which is taking in more bodies than expected.
Bodies can be kept for a period of up to three months; and should be taken from the mortuary after the allowed time period has lapsed. But this has never been the case at the hospital.
The hospital is now using a cool room to store the bodies as there is an issue with the compressor of the current morgue. The cool room currently used by the hospital is storing an excess of 45 bodies, however more space is required.
A standard morgue can cater for six bodies.
CEO Gawi says, the problem is being attended to by the hospital to rectify the problem with the compressor, to create more space.
