Kokoda Memorial Hospital is a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

located in

Kokoda Kokoda is a station town in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It is famous as the northern end of the Kokoda Track, site of the eponymous Kokoda Track campaign of World War II. In that campaign, it had strategic significance because it had the ...

Oro Province Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province in the Southern Region, Papua New Guinea, Southern Region of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The provinc ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. It is located at the northern end of the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japane ...

. In its first four and a half years of service, it served more than 100,000 patients and delivered more than 500 babies. The hospital was named for those who died in the Kokoda Campaign.

History

The Kokoda Memorial Hospital was built in 1995 in a partnership between then-prime ministers

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

and

Julius Chan Sir Julius Chan (29 August 1939 – 30 January 2025) was a Papua New Guinean politician who served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He was Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won t ...

to mark the 50th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign. Australian Aid commissioned Rotary Australia volunteers to build the $2 million AUS hospital, which consisted of 36 beds, a doctor's residence, three staff cottages, two guesthouses, washing facilities for hikers, a new war museum, and an airport shelter. Rotary Australia also did roadwork and built water pipes that connected to many houses for the first time. They were also successful in convincing Keating's government to cover costs to add an additional 10-bed ward, a solar energy system, and supplementary water pumping capacities. In 2004, only one permanent staff member was seeing 200 visitors every day. For the 75th anniversary of the Campaign in 2005, volunteers used donated materials to build seven staff houses and one double classroom each for Kokoda Elementary School and the Kokoda Technical and Skills College. The Elementary School students had been attending classes in old hospital buildings since their establishment in 1998. In 2016, hospitals in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

were donating surplus medical equipment to Kokoda, including ECG machines, linens, and uniforms. To mark the 80th anniversary of the Campaign, the hospital received K1.1 million ($467,423 AUS) worth of facility refurbishments. This included better access for disabled residents, repairs, an

antenatal Prenatal development () involves the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal deve ...

clinic, improved hygiene, and vaccine fridges. The Sri Sathya Sai International Organization also donated 30 beds and 30 mosquito nets. Rotary Australia volunteers visit Kokoda annually to help update and refurbish facilities and to teach residents about

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...

and using computers.

References

Hospital buildings completed in 1995 Hospitals in Papua New Guinea Hospitals established in 1995 Kokoda {{PapuaNewGuinea-struct-stub