Health Secretary visits Goroka General Hospital

Yesterday the Secretary of the National Department of Health – Dr. Clement Malau, officially opened the Business Resource Center at Goroka General Hospital. This was a momentous occasion for Hospital Staff, Management and the Board but also a unique opportunity to present and talk about my vision on Open Source Software and how it can provide long term tangible benefits to the National Health System within Papua New Guinea.

The opening of our Business Resource Center has been 12 months in the planning and finally it happened! As well as the Secretary, the CEO’s from each of the Highlands Hospitals, senior staff from the Health Department, AUSAID advisors and Goroka Hospital Board and Management all turned for the spectacular which was held tightly packed in the relatively small space of the Hospital’s newly established IT Training room.

During my 30mins presentation to the Secretary and other guests I emphasised the achievements at the Hospital in the last 18 months:

1) Deployment of 60 PC’s and laptops including a LAN (1st Hospital in PNG)
2) Establishment of a Business Resource Center (1st Hospital in PNG)
3) Setting of a Training Room and Course Schedule (12 PC’s) (1st Hospital in PNG)
4) Monthly meetings of a IM&T Working Group (1st Hospital in PNG)
5) Hospital Website www.ggh.org.pg (1st Hospital in PNG)
6) Access to the Hinari Subscription (1st Hospital in PNG)
7) Development of an organisational Intranet (1st Hospital in PNG)
8) Recent media coverage (1st Hospital in PNG)

(As I’m sure you can appreciate… actions speak louder than words. My current motto seems to be paying some dividends: “Chip, chip, chip – slowly but surely”.

(Hospital Management waiting for the Secretary to arrive)

(The Secretary – Dr. Clement Malau arrives at GGH)

(Dr. Clement Malau cuts the ribbon and officially opens the Business Resource Center)

(How could I resist a snap with PNG’s most senior Health bureaucrat?)

What’s interesting is that the Hospital is in the process of seeking funding to extend the current IT Project to develop an Electronic Patient Records System with the view to replicating the system at other Hospitals across PNG. So far our door knocking effort has been met with either blank stares or the “don’t call us we’ll call you treatment”. The fact the our project is based on an Open Source philosophy has a lot to do with the reluctance for folks to pull out their cheque books.

(As they say… there is no pain in change but only in the resistance to it)

=> With the two articles that appeared in The National recently…

“Goroka Hospital goes online in a first for PNG” (26th of September, 2008)

“Open Source and Potential savings for PNG” (3rd of October, 2008)

=> Plus the live radio interview I did for NBC Nation al Radio during the recent AUSAID Volunteers Conference in Moresby…

=> And of course the visit yesterday by the Secretary to open our Business Center…

I believe that we have just increased the odds for PNG Government – in this case (for now) the National Department of Health to at least take a closer look at the feasibility of Open Source Software.

Facts generally speak for themselves and Goroka General Hospital (as of today) now has the credibility and respect to influence future IT/IS directions for PNG Health.

To view the remaining photos from yesterday’s official opening of the Hospital’s Business Resource Center please click here.

To view the story as it appeared the The National newspaper on the 17th of October please click GGH” href=”http://www.thenational.com.pg/”>here.