The Levuka Hospital in Ovalau

The Minister for Health and Medical Services is currently in talks with development partners and relevant stakeholders on how to address the on-going challenges facing the Levuka Hospital in Ovalau.

Dr Atonio Lalabalavu says hospital has a backlog of issues it has been facing for some time, such as sewerage problems, disruption of power supply as well as the need for a back-up generator, more ambulances and an incinerator.

Lalabalavu says due to the irregular power supply, some of the medical machines cannot fully operate, such as the X-ray machines and laboratory test apparatus, causing patients to travel to Suva to access these services.

“We have looked into that and are working with relevant stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water, on how best we can address those issues, but the issues are all laggard, and coming on board, we are trying our very best to fix them.”

Lalabalavu says talks are still under to utilize funds from the Ministry’s 2023–2024 budget allocation for Levuka Hospital.

He says the issue facing Levuka Hospital have been an ongoing issue from previous years, which the Ministry is urgently looking into.