By Jamil Suleman
THE Coalition Government is committed to enhancing healthcare infrastructure and services in Fiji.
As part of this effort, significant developments have taken place at Vunisea Hospital, as well as at healthcare facilities in Kadavu and surrounding areas, underscoring the Coalition Government's key achievements in the health sector.
Acting Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Krishan Prasad, who has been serving in the hospital for four years, provided an overview of Vunisea Hospital and shared recent developments concerning the hospital and its health centre.
“Vunisea Hospital is a 25-bed facility that includes four maternity beds, two paediatric beds, and two emergency beds. The remainder of the facility consists of ward beds for both male and female medical patients,” Dr Prasad explained.
“In a typical week, we expect outpatient visits to range from 100 to 130, with inpatient admissions ranging from 5 to 10.”
Dr Prasad noted that this year alone, the hospital has undergone immense infrastructure development, which has positively impacted the lives of the people of Kadavu.
“The flooring of the health centre was completely renovated to address safety concerns, carried out collaboratively by the health team and divisional support.”
He previously mentioned that the flooring had been deteriorating, and there were instances where staff members had fallen through the floor and sustained injuries.
Dr Prasad also happily reported the near completion of the mortuary at Kadavu Hospital, which had been non-operational for nearly four years.
“Multiple assessments have been conducted, and the upgrade of the electrical system has recently been completed.”
He highlighted that another significant upgrade was the renovation of the operating theatre.
Dr Prasad added that the roofing structure has been replaced to address a previous issue involving water leakage during surgeries on rainy days.
Since its upgrade, the operational theatre recently conducted 76 operations in five days.
Additionally, the hospital has installed two 10,000-litre water tanks as backup support at Vunisea Hospital as a proactive measure.
Dr Prasad shared that the team has received positive feedback from patients regarding these developments.
“As a result, more patients are choosing to receive treatment at our hospital rather than traveling to Suva, thus saving money. The improved services are reducing the need for patients to travel to Suva for medical care.”
He noted that while they are still referring patients to Suva for specialized care and additional investigations, the need for such referrals is decreasing, as more cases can now be managed locally.
Other significant upgrades include:
- The Daviqele Health Centre, which has undergone improvements to both the health centre and the doctors’ quarters, now completed
- The installation of a new water tank and standpipes at the Daviqele Health Centre.
- Plans to develop the Soso nursing station into a health centre are underway. Construction materials are already at Vunisea, and staff are awaiting the arrival of carpenters for repairs. There are also plans to renovate the quarters for medical officers at Soso, aiming to extend the nursing station into a health centre during this financial year.
- In Naulotu, repairs on the nursing quarters are currently in progress, along with the installation of new water tanks.
Video Link - https://bit.ly/3VM2GUw