Two new Community Health Posts (CHPs) built at Wagbel village and Ogelbeng outside Mt Hagen in the Western Highlands Province will soon open their doors to the public to receive medical treatment.
The keys to the two facilities were officially handed over to the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority (WHPHA) on 10th October 2017 by the contractor, Steward Construction Consultants following their completion.
Project Manager, the WHPHA Project Management Unit together with members of the Senior Executive Management did an inspection of the facilities to ensure all standard requirements had been complied with before the keys were handed over.
Work carried out at both facilities included the construction of two clinical buildings and two three-bedroom staff houses each. The clinical buildings have out-patients sections, minor surgery and consultation rooms as well as pharmacies and staff rooms. Ogelbeng also has a birthing room.
The two facilities cost in excess of K1 million each and were funded jointly by the WHPHA and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on a kina for kina basis where every kina the WHPHA had spent had been equally matched by DFAT.
Construction of the facilities commenced in early 2016 and was expected to be completed within a year but due to logistical problems and financial constraints, the CHPs had taken longer to be completed.
The WHPHA’s Director for Public Health, Benson Safi who received the keys from the contractors said the facilities may not be opened soon as the necessary equipment and drugs were not available.
He said the WHPHA did not have enough money to purchase the necessary medical equipment, furniture and drugs and this was likely to cause a delay in the opening of these facilities.
The new CHPs will have three staff each – a nursing officer as officer-in-charge and two community health workers. The completion of these two facilities brings to 24, the total number of community health posts in the province.
