Lata Hospital is operating with only two doctors when it needs at least four to serve Temotu Province, Dr Hugh Blessing Renga told the Minister for Health and Medical Services, Hon Morris Toiraena, during a short visit to the hospital, the Government Communication Unit said on 2 November.
In his briefing, Dr Renga said the hospital was short of doctors, nurses, medicines and other medical supplies, and that the pharmacy had run low on stock. He said Temotu's geographical isolation made adequate health services particularly important because patients travel long distances for further treatment, and that the hospital needed facilities and resources comparable to those at the National Referral Hospital (NRH).
Minister Toiraena described the situation as "a sad state of affairs" and said the hospital had been allowed to run down over many years.
The government knew about the problems and had put new staffing arrangements in place, including tougher rules, to deal with the shortage of doctors and nurses, the minister said. He added that Lata Hospital needed more than renovation, and that a new hospital was required to provide appropriate health infrastructure for the people of Temotu.
According to Minister Toiraena, the government and the World Health Organisation have already agreed to work together on a new hospital for Lata.
The visit gave the minister the chance to hear directly from frontline health workers about the immediate problems affecting health services in the province, the Government Communication Unit said. The minister said it now fell to the government to deal with these longstanding problems so people in Temotu can get reliable health care closer to home.
Source: Drawn from a statement by the Government Communication Unit published on the Solomon Islands Government portal on 2 November 2026. https://solomons.gov.sb/health-minister-confronts-longstanding-challenges-at-lata-hospital/