Mendi General Hospital provides health services to more than 600,000 plus people of the Southern Highlands Province and the hospital is the major referral hospital for other sub district hospitals and health centres within SHP.

The Hospital provides health services on critical and major health cases which the district hospitals are not able to deal with and these cases range from major accidents, emergencies or surgical treatments.

Mendi General Hospital receives electricity supplied by PNG Power Limited from the main Ramu Grid and this supply is often unpredictable with power outages, especially when the hospital staffs are attending to critical accidents and emergency or surgical cases in the operating room thus causing life threatening situations for patient care.

MRDC managing director and CEO Mr Augustine Mano said,
“Despite the ongoing problems faced by the hospital with power failure and tribal fights, Mendi General Hospital made sure it continued providing the best medical services which earned it the five-star rating, making it one of the best hospitals in Papua New Guinea.”

“The generator will ensure that health services are continued to be provided even when there is a power failure in Mendi Town.”

‘This donation is an incentive that will encourage the board and management of the hospital to continue on providing the same quality health services so that the status quo in maintained”

Mendi General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Mr Joe Turian said,
“The Board and management of Mendi Hospital would like to thank MRDC through Managing Director Mr Augustine Mano for listening to the needs of the people of Southern Highlands and donating the generator.”

“This generator will power most of our operations during blackouts and it will also supply electricity to 16 doctors’ houses, 12 technical staff houses and two nursing quarters. The people of Southern Highlands may not see the importance of this generator but the benefits it will bring will be immeasurable.”

‘Our hospital has been recently awarded a five-star rating by the Health Department and AusAID and the donation of the generator will complement that rating. So the donation by MRDC is not just a donation. It will assist us to maintain that rating.”

He stated that after the Hospital’s standby generator broke down in September last year, he wrote to the Department of Health requesting a replacement but was told that he should wait till the next budget session.

“With MRDC giving my hospital a K300,000 worth generator, the Board and management are just thankful to MRDC and we will show our appreciation by continuing to manage the hospital well.”

According to Mr Turian, there will now be continuous power supply to the operating theatre and its air conditioning, oxygen facilities, suction machines, medical and surgical wards, dental unit, accidents and emergency ward, laboratory, morgue, kitchen, incinerators and laundry machines., As construction for the PNG LNG Project picks up, Petroleum Resources Kutubu also gives priority to the provision of proper health services in the Kikori Delta. The company recently approved K150,000 for the purchase of vital health equipment for the Kikori Health Centre.

Kikori Health Centre serves most of the PRK Pipeline beneficiaries such as the Ikobi Kaisel Pera, Rumu, Kibiri and Kerowa Tribes and with the LNG activities at the Delta, the population is expected to increase and PRK sees it is necessary that the people in the Delta receive proper health care through the Kikori Health Centre.