Patients and staff members are returning to Atoifi Seventh-day Adventist Hospital after the arrest of a second person suspected of murdering Australian missionary Lance Gersbach.
Patients and staff members are returning to Atoifi Seventh-day Adventist Hospital after the arrest of a second person suspected of murdering Australian missionary Lance Gersbach.
The Malaita-based hospital began discharging patients who were able to treat themselves as shaken staff members left for the capital, Honiara, while police waited for the suspect to surrender. The hospital reverted to clinic status June 15, treating only outpatients. When police arrested the suspect 48 hours after the clinic reopened, the hospital resumed a normal working schedule, treating all patients.
“We’re all relieved the tension has ended,” says Dr. Arnold Raubenheimer, who remained with his wife, Yvonne, as a medical officer at Atoifi after the murder of Gersbach. “I couldn’t see anyone on the campus yesterday. Today, people are everywhere. I even got a cheer when I arrived for work this morning.”
The hospital expects more than half the staff members who left for Honiara to return within a week.
“The staff members can return to duty without fear of further danger,” says Dr. Percy Harrold, the associate health director for the Adventist Church in the South Pacific, who has visited the hospital regularly over the past 12 years. “The government has promised a permanent police presence on the compound.”
“The staff members and students at Atoifi have shown a wonderful spirit of unity and devotion over the past month,” says Lester Asugeni, a Malaitian who has served at the hospital—most recently as acting chief executive officer—for 19 years. “The hospital will continue serving the community.”
Gersbach, a dedicated missionary and church worker, was beheaded at about midday on May 18. Solomon Islands police have arrested two men, Silas Eddie Laefilamo and Mark Nasusu, in connection with the slaying.
