The Sir Brian Bell Centre for Transfusion Medicine
The Foundation has had a long history with Port Moresby General Hospital as the late Sir Brian Bell served as Chairman of the board for 30 years. He was committed to health, saving lives and establishing a quality health facility that would service the growing population requirements. Port Moresby General Hospital is today a 1,000 patient facility and is the primary teaching and specialty Hospital in PNG.
On the 5th December 2018, the Sir Brian Bell Foundation proudly opened the NEW Sir Brian Bell Centre for Transfusion medicine which comprises of the collection centre, testing facility, cross matching and grouping of blood capabilities, as well as provides continuous education opportunities for key members of the transfusion team.
Lulu Marks, The National
This new facility is a first in PNG, and now provides a global standard facility in managing all areas of blood collection, testing and blood products. The impact of this new centre will see increased benefits to the critical departments of Intensive Care Unit, Integrated Comprehensive Care Unit, Operation Open Heart, Disease treatment (including Cancer), and general patient benefits of blood screening to ensure diseases and viruses are not transferred in any blood products.
The 3-year program has been strategically planned between the Sir Brian Bell Foundation and the Board / Management of Port Moresby General Hospital. This mutli-million Kina program has been designed to provide state-of-the-art equipment, brand new facilities, enhanced training programs and capacity building initiatives that will lead this new department successfully beyond 2021.
The idea was built on the success of the youth blood drive initiative. “When the Sir Brian Bell Foundation officially started two years ago, we did so by introducing a blood donation programme aimed at the youth of Port Moresby,” Bronwyn said. “The Youth Blood Drive saw the Foundation and the blood bank team visit many high schools, colleges and universities to educate and inspire the new wave of blood donors in our community.”
The event was celebrated in front of dignitaries, and team members. The Sir Brian Bell Foundation CEO, Ms. Bronwyn Wright excitedly cut the ribbon to open the doors of this national first for Papua New Guinea.
Port Moresby General Hospital CEO Dr Gupta said “Not only creating the awareness about blood donation but the testing side is also equally important, patient safety is of paramount importance, so we needed to upgrade the skills and equipment. Blood cannot be manufactured, it has to come from another human being to save lives. People were also educated that when donating blood, health checks could be made”.
Ms Bronwyn Wright said she was overjoyed to carry on Sir Brian Bell’s legacy in supporting health and education. “This is a pure PNG owned project and I couldn’t be happier to showcase the expertise we have here in Papua New Guinea” she said.
The overall Foundation commitment to this program will exceed K3million in funding. The carefully managed budgets and processes have ensured transparency in all funding expenditure, plus provided tangible outcomes for the staff on the ground including the introduction of a new Mobile Blood Bank allowing for the collection of blood on site, with 4 available beds to be used for patient comfort and treatment. Additionally, the Blood Bank Bus also received a much-needed upgrade including new signage, registration and servicing of the vehicle ensure a usable asset for shift and efficient medical staff movements.
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