Vanuatu Central Hospital Suction System
The Installation of a reticulated hospital suction system into Vanuatu Central HospitalA project of the Rotary Club of Ballarat West.
In 2014, Ballarat Health Services was expanding. The Hospital Suction generator which had been installed only in 2004, and which provided reticulated suction throughout the hospital, was no longer large enough to service the new hospital.
The hospital purchased new equipment, and offered this very large system, which was hardly run-in, to the Rotary Club of Ballarat West
After searching for recipients, the neediest hospital in our region was the Vanuatu Central Hospital on Port V
ila, who to that date had no reticulated system at all, and was looking at providing single ward systems at several thousand dollars each.It would however cost many thousands of dollars to ship it to Port Vila, let alone construct the housing and install the entire system.
Nonetheless, the value of the unit to the VCH was probably around $50,000 or even more, so it was worth the effort. If we were unable to get it installed, it would be sold as scrap.
The Rotary Club of Ballarat East retrieved the unit and shipped it to DIK in Geelong in February 2015. DIK stored.jpg)
the unit there until we could make arrangements to get the project financed, and get it to Vanuatu. Discussions and offers proceeded over intervening months, and more and more so it looked like it would be the scrap heap for the suction equipment
the unit there until we could make arrangements to get the project financed, and get it to Vanuatu. Discussions and offers proceeded over intervening months, and more and more so it looked like it would be the scrap heap for the suction equipmentIt just so happened that Department of Foreign Affairs and TRade (DFAT) had commissioned a report on delivering aid to Vanuatu, and they reported that DFAT’s health sector support was fragmented and would benefit from clearer focus and sense of direction. The report concluded that DFAT’s health sector support would benefit from clearer focus and sense of direction. The Vanuatu Health Resource Mechanism (VHRM) was set up to improve co-ordination between the Vanuatu Health Support Program and other DFAT funded activities within and beyond the health sector.
The VHRM agreed that the 
Suction program was a good thing for Vanuatu, and agreed to finance shipping and installation, and to organise supervision of the project in Port Vila. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on September 28th 2015.
Suction program was a good thing for Vanuatu, and agreed to finance shipping and installation, and to organise supervision of the project in Port Vila. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on September 28th 2015.The equipment was shipped to Port Vila, and with advice from Frank Sawyer, the engineer from Ballarat Health Services who had managed the suction equipment since its first installation in 2014, was eventually housed, installed and functioning by October 2016.
Frank was prepared to volunteer his time to help the installation, but by virtue of phone calls and e-mails, he was able to support the program from Ballarat and he was never needed in Vanuatu. The staff of Vanuatu hospital, working with mentor Scott Everden, engineer with the VHRM, had successfully installed the system.
I would like to thank not only Ballarat Health Services and Frank Sawyer in particular, but the Rotary Club of Ballarat East, “Donations in Kind” Geelong, the Vanuatu Health Resource Mechanism staff (in particular Scott Monteiro, Scott Everden and Nish Vivekenathan) and of course the Government of Vanuaut for their help in this project.
John Oswald
The Rotary Club of Ballarat West
18th of October 2016
Memorandum of Understanding between
Government of Vanuatu and the Rotary Club of Ballarat West
- All parties will co-operate in a project in support of the establishment of a Medical Suction unit at Vila Central Hospital which has been provided by the Rotary Club of Ballarat West and accepted by the Ministry of Health. This will include:
2.1.1 Establishment of a Medical Suction Unit at Vila Central Hospital (VCH) for the removal of mucous bloods and other fluids during treatment and medical procedure.
2.1.2 Provision of training and management support to VCH maintenance personnel inclusive procurement of Specialist Tools and Test Equipment (STTE).
2.1.3 Provision of through life service agreements for preventative and cyclic maintenance (if agreed to and Contracted by the GoV).
Proof it works !!