Lae School of Nursing

The Lae School of Nursing was originally established in the 1960s and has a longstanding relationship with nearby ANGAU Hospital, which continues as the school’s teaching hospital. The major infrastructure upgrade support valued at approximately K25 million is part of the ANGAU Hospital redevelopment project, an initiative under the Joint Understanding between the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia. Developments include the renovation of the administration building and construction of a new academic building complex. The new building complex includes tutorial rooms, a computer lab, library, and student mess.

Students of the Lae School of Nursing will greatly benefit from the new infrastructure support provided by the Australian government. Secretary for Health, Pascoe Kase, and Australian High Commissioner, Bruce Davis opened the new Academic Building at the Lae School of Nursing on Tuesday, 8 May 2018. The new facilities, which have the capacity to cater for over 300 students, will deliver a conducive teaching and learning environment for both staff and students. Security lighting has also been installed to enable students to access school facilities and ANGAU hospital for clinical practicals in the evenings. The project which was completed late 2017 and provided job opportunities and skills development for an estimated 90 local construction workers, who were involved in the construction of the facilities. Through Australia’s partnership with Papua New Guinea, this assistance to the Lae School of Nursing will help to ensure the ongoing provision of adequately trained staff for the expanded facilities at ANGAU hospital, as well as addressing potential shortages of skilled health workers throughout the country. (Please see Australian High Commission (PNG) website for more: https://png.embassy.gov.au/pmsb/778.html)

Kramer Ausenco (KA) was awarded the Lae School of Nursing contract to design new classrooms and staff accommodation and refurbish the existing classrooms. KA carried out an initial site investigation and presented the concept design report (including the concept design drawings) to the client. Each discipline ensured that service routes did not clash while upholding the set building standards. Following the feedback from the client, KA produced a functional description report and prepared the design drawings for client review, building board approval and, later, for the tender process.

Project

Lae School of Nursing

Location

Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

Client

Health and Education Procurement Facility (HEPF), Australian Government, Architectus

Project Type

Health, Education

Year Completed

2017