Healthcare Access slowly Returns to Northern New Caledonia Towns
poindimié, New Caledonia – Residents of Koumac and Poindimié are beginning to see a cautious return of healthcare services after months of limited access, following the reopening of external care in Poindimié and renewed staffing at the Koné CHN. While a welcome development, meaningful challenges remain, particularly regarding vital emergency care in both towns.
the Poindimié service, closed as January 2024, reopened with a trickle of patients on its second day, bolstered by the recent recruitment of approximately ten nurses at the Koné CHN, allowing staff to return to the Raymond-Doui-Nebayes hospital. The limited reopening offers a glimmer of hope for local doctors like Willy Abayizeye, who arrived in Poindimié a year ago and previously worked without nursing support. “A doctor couldn’t do many things without a nurse,” Dr. Abayizeye stated. “I had to take patients who were not independent and take them in their car. So today, that gives a feeling of hope for me and for the population.”
However, the reopening of external care does not address the ongoing crisis in vital emergency services, which have been suspended in both Koumac and Poindimié for several months. Caroline Dupuy, who worked at Koné for a year, expressed cautious optimism, noting the short-term commitment of many new recruits. “There are a lot of recruits.But people commit for a maximum period of six months. So, it’s true that the human resource management side is not yet completely resolved and I think that’s why we still have a little difficulty in having a complete perspective on the continuation of the opening, or not, of the healthcare offer on Koumac.”
Dupuy added, “I am delighted to come back home to work and at the same time, I say to myself that it feels like not enough. The question of the vital emergency is not at all resolved. So,we are really crossing our fingers that we will have favorable outcomes. This is what the people, the population are asking for and we really hope that things will get back to that order very quickly.” The situation highlights the ongoing struggle to secure long-term healthcare solutions for communities in northern New Caledonia.
