Princess Margaret Hospital (Funafuti)
| Princess Margaret Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu |
| Coordinates | 8°30′54.72″S 179°11′57.843″E / 8.5152000°S 179.19940083°ECoordinates: 8°30′54.72″S 179°11′57.843″E / 8.5152000°S 179.19940083°E |
| Organisation | |
| Hospital type | General |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Beds | 50 |
| History | |
| Founded | Hospital on Funafuti founded 1913; current site 2003. |
Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu is the only hospital in the country, and the primary provider of medical services for all the islands of Tuvalu. The hospital is located about 1.3 kilometres north from the centre of Funafuti on Fongafale islet.
For 2010, the total health budget was AUD $4,696,042.
The hospital has 50 beds with separate wards for men, women and infants. It offers basic routine medical, surgical, obstetric and gynaecologic services. There is also an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a surgery room and nurses' station. PMH also provides accident and emergency services.
Services to the outer islands of the country is provided by satellite clinics, staffed generally with a nurse and a midwife.
The first hospital was established at Funafuti in 1913 at the direction of G.B.W. Smith-Rewse, during his tenure as the District Officer at Funafuti from 1909 to 1915. At this time Tuvalu was known as the Ellice Islands and was administered as a British protectorate as part of the British Western Pacific Territories. In 1916 the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony was established. From 1916 to 1919 the hospital was under the supervision of Dr J. G. McNaughton, when he resigned the position remained vacant until 1930, when Dr D. C. Macpherson was appointed physician at the hospital. He remained in the position until 1933, when he was appointed to a position in Suva, Fiji.
During the colonial administration, Tuvaluans provided medical services at the hospital after receiving training at the Suva Medical School, which changed its name to Central Medical School in 1928 and which later became the Fiji School of Medicine. Training was provided to Tuvaluans who graduated with the title Native Medical Practitioners, nurses or "dressers", the male equivalent of nurses.
During World War II the hospital on Fongafale atoll was dismantled as the American forces built an airfield on this atoll. The hospital was shifted to Funafala atoll under the responsibility of Dr Ka, while Dr Simeona Peni provided medical services to the American forces at the 76-bed hospital that was built by the Americans at Vailele.
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