Barbados to build $400 mn hospital
October 31st, 2011 - 11:58 am ICT by IANSBridgetown, Oct 31 (IANS/CMC) The Barbados government has announced plans to construct a new $400 million hospital, which would be one of the largest development projects on the Caribbean island.
According to Health Minister Donville Inniss, the new 600-bed facility would be built on the Greenfields, St. Michael, site.
Finance for the project would be a joint public-private sector initiative and international funding would be sourced, the minister stated.
The proposed new hospital would be one of the largest physical development projects on the island in the last decade. It would have room for expansion, he added.
The minister informed the reporters that $97.5 million were being presently spent annually to maintain the 47-year-old Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
The new hospital will replace the flagship QEH.
“The cost of operating the existing Queen Elizabeth Hospital is one that perhaps relates closely to the age of the plant and our inability over the years to maintain it properly. This does not mean that the QEH will, in any way shape or fashion, be neglected. It will be a gradual process,” said Inniss, adding that they could not turn the key and open a new general hospital overnight.
The minister also revealed that the operating theatres (at the QEH) had been plagued with maintenance issues over the years.
–IANS/CMC
sd/vm/tb
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