This is a Tax Deductible OARF project
If you are willing to take a heart-stopping ride in a small plane, or if you can find a boat to take you on the week long journey up the Fly River, then you may be able to find Rumginae Hospital! It was established in the 1960s by APCM medical professionals and is now a 60-bed facility that provides health care for the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.
Since the beginning, there has been an emphasis on training as it is the only community health worker training school in the west part of PNG. Students from three provinces go out to remote aid posts as the first level (and in many instances the only level) of health care for the country. Besides the hospital and training school, fifteen peripheral health facilities scattered around the North Fly District are also supervised. This network is responsible for providing health care for about 40,000 people. However, with no doctors at other key facilities, the Centre attracts patients from a much larger area. With the help of a network of high frequency radios the Centre provides a medical consultation service to a wide area of remote, rural PNG. The Centre also works closely with Mission Aviation Fellowship who are vital for the transport of personnel and supplies to aid posts as well as transferring patients who need hospital care.
Rumginae Health Centre are dedicated to:-
- Training young PNG men and women as health workers, who then become a driving force in the development of the communities where they will work and serve.
- Improving maternal and child health, lowering rates of malaria, TB, HIV and other major diseases in rural communities.
- Providing rural communities with high frequency radio and mobile phone access to medical care, including medical evacuation.
- Developing and maintaining the much-needed infrastructure and equipment to run the project, including the health facility buildings, airstrips, transport (boats, vehicles), and through provision of jobs to local workers with appropriate training and support.