Abau MP Sir Puka Temu has raised concerns in Parliament over severe overcrowding at Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), questioning whether the country’s largest hospital is being forced to perform the role of a regional referral facility due to mounting pressure on its services.
During Question Time yesterday, Sir Puka asked Health Minister Elias Kapavore to clarify whether PMGH had been reclassified from a national referral hospital and sought updates on measures being taken to address shortages of beds in key departments, including surgical and maternity wards.
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He also called for the release of K12 million approved for health facilities in the National Capital District, saying improved lower-level health services were needed to ease the burden on PMGH and improve healthcare delivery.
Sir Puka said specialist doctors had reported a shortage of beds for patients and cited studies indicating that many people attending PMGH could be treated at smaller health facilities.
He said about 60 per cent of patients attending the hospital were Category Three patients who did not require specialist care, while a large proportion of maternity beds were occupied by mothers undergoing normal deliveries that could be managed at adequately equipped clinics.
The Abau MP recommended the construction of additional hospitals in Port Moresby and Central Province to meet growing healthcare demands and reduce pressure on PMGH.
In response, Health Minister Elias Kapavore said PMGH remains Papua New Guinea’s only Level Six National Referral Hospital under the National Health Service Standards.
Mr. Kapavore said the hospital was originally built in the 1980s to serve a population of about 300,000 people, but Port Moresby now has more than one million residents, contributing to overcrowding.
He said PMGH records about 70,000 births annually, with around 60 babies delivered each day.
“This is happening mainly in PMGH because we do not have enough health facilities in NCD, and we know that,” he said.
Mr. Kapavore agreed that strengthening lower-level health facilities would help reduce congestion at the hospital by allowing patients with less complex conditions to receive treatment closer to their communities.
He said the Government was upgrading health facilities at Six Mile, Gerehu, Metoreia, Kaugere and Kwikila, with some facilities already providing maternity services and others expected to open later this year.
The minister added that the Government had committed K200 million towards improving cancer treatment services in Papua New Guinea to reduce the need for patients to seek treatment overseas.
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Mr. Kapavore said improving health infrastructure across NCD and neighboring provinces would enable PMGH to focus on delivering specialized services such as cardiac care, kidney transplants and cancer treatment.