Gov’t approves $238m for UHWI modernisation project
Published:Friday | May 21, 2021 | 12:15 AMNadine Wilson-Harris/Staff Reporter
The Government has approved a grant valued at $238.4 million for the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) to assist the Type-A facility with the first phase of its redevelopment and modernisation programme.
A total of $900 million was set aside in the national budget for the first phase of the project, which will now be under the public sector improvement programme. Minister of Education, Youth and Information Fayval Williams said the investment is necessary to help the hospital meet the growing healthcare needs of the public over the medium to long term.
“Current operations at the UHWI are fragmented and are not coordinated like that of a modern hospital, and has an ageing, outdated structure in need of replacement,” she said during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday.
“The structure needs to be reconfigured as the long-term development of the hospital could not be sustained by the current building stocks, small two-storey buildings, spread over many acres with open air interconnection,” said the government official.
In order to achieve a modern structure, the project will involve the demolishing of old buildings and the construction of five new towers on a phased basis. The project also involves the acquisition of new equipment, among other things.
UHWI first started offering services in 1953 and provides patient care, as well as teaching and learning for medical students. Chief executive officer at the hospital, Kevin Allen, said phase one of the plan includes the relocation of the ring road as well as electrical and plumbing work.
ACTIVE ENVIRONMENT
“It is an active hospital. You can’t lock it down to say we are going to build; we have to build in an active environment while we meet the needs of the country. So we do a little bit here, we do a little bit there, meanwhile we are in an active environment,” he told The Gleaner.
The initial timeline for the project is four to five years, but Allen suspects it will take longer.
“We identify that we can do some things in the first phase and we are just breaking it down so we can manage it,” he said.
The Cabinet has also approved the award of a contract for the installation and commissioning of a neurosurgical microscope at the hospital. The contract was awarded to Leica Microsystems in the amount of $89.4 million, and will allow different body parts to be illuminated during surgery.