Historic and proud occasion with the opening of a new Ghombua Rural Health Clinic

Historic and proud occasion with the opening of a new Ghombua Rural Health Clinic

Posted by : frank short Posted on : 20-Jun-2021

Writing for so long about the run down state of many of the countries rural health clinics, I was very happy today to see in the Solomon Times Online the news of the opening on Tuesday this week of the new Ghomnua Rural Health Clinic in Guadalcanal Province.

It was said in the newspaper’ article that over a hundred Ghombua residents, Chiefs, elders, church and community leaders, fathers and mothers with their children gathered in great excitement to witness the historic moment for their community, the opening of their new clinic.

“Guests escorted by pathfinders, flags raised, national and provincial anthems sang, speeches, choirs from community men and women followed by red velvet cake and ribbon cutting and community feast with presentation of gifts were part of the celebrations at Ghombua to mark the official opening of the clinic.

“Though a joy-filled event, time was also spared for the entire community to come to a stand -still with laying of wreaths to remember family members and friends whom have passed on due to sickness and those who have dreamt of a clinic but never lived to witness their dream come true.

Truly a historic moment for our people. We have witnessed the devastation that lack of a easy to access clinic can cause and today we are overjoyed that we have our own rural health clinic just steps away from our homes”, highlighted the community’s church Minister Silas Ratu when delivering his brief remarks at the event.”

Footnote

The construction of the AHC was made possible with funding from the Provincial Governance Strengthening Program ( PGSP) – Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) implemented through the Ministry of Provincial government in partnership with the community and contractor, Reinunu Construction. The Ministry of Health and Medical Services through its Guadalcanal Provincial Health team provided the technical support in terms of design including all necessary work to enlist Ghombua with the medicines supply chain and placement of a nurse at the clinic.

Both the Deputy Premier Hon Lazarus Rima and Provincial Health Minister Hon Francis Iso in their remarks reiterated the Guadalcanal ’Provincial Government’s (GPG) commitment towards service delivery to the people and the need for community members to look after the facilities provided.

Guadalcanal qualified for the PGSP-PCDF over the past years and used the opportunity to engage in various projects, throughout the province. In the last financial year, Guadalcanal province embarked on 15 projects, 14 of which were completed, and Ghombua was amongst the 14 completed projects.

The Head of St John Ambulance, Douglas Kelson, provided new bed linen for the clinic and also offered to provide two of St John volunteers to assist the nurse for the time being until an additional nurse is recruited for Ghombua clinic.

 St John Ambulance will also be installing two way radio at the clinic to ensure communication and swift action for any emergency cases that needs urgent medical attention at the National Referral Hospital.

The new clinic will serve some 5000 people living in and around Ghombua.

Comment.

Thank you Guadalcanal Provincial Government and the MHMS for the clinic project, thank you to St John’s Ambulance for assistance and congratulations to the Ghombua community on getting the long awaited clinic.

Please look after the facility for years to come.

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

www.solomonislandsinfocus.com

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