On January 1st our Hospital Expansion Project started, funded by Australian Aid's Incentive Fund. In the next 3 years, we will have a larger and/or new Emergency Room, Outpatient Department, Surgical Outpatient Department, Operating Theatre, Pharmacy, Lab, Nursery, Delivery Ward, Storeroom, Administration Building, Laundry, Dental Clinic, Incinerator and Morgue.
At the end of this Project, we hope to be able to better care for the patients we are already caring for. We currently don't have enough doctor exam rooms when we have trainees and volunteers with us, so the expansion will enable us to have room as we look to be more involved in training PNG students and doctors. Our whole old hospital is full of supplies and medicines in storage, the new Storeroom will allow us finally put all our supplies in one space, so we actually know what we have and what we don't. Our nursery currently has room for 5 little bassinets, there are times recently where we have had 2 and 3 babies in each bassinet in order to provide a space for everyone who needs it. The nursery expansion will give us at least 10 bassinets, with the potential to have more, as we need it. Our Emergency Room only currently has 7 beds in it, and we often have patients waiting outside to be seen or for a dressing change, the expansion will give us more beds so patients aren't waiting for a bed. 
Anytime you build something there is going to be dust, dirt and noise and this project will be no different. Unlike when we built the new hospital, we will still be using the buildings as we are expanding, so our Project guys have their work cut out for them as they work to expand the hospital while making sure we are still able to care for the patients who come. Thankfully, we have a great group of project guys and so I know they will do their best to keep us up and running as we are building.
