UHWI to limit impact of landmark medical building’s construction phase on patients

Persons utilising the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) are being given an assurance that the facility’s management will be working, along with the architect, to ensure patients’ safety while mitigating added discomfort during the construction of a brand-new medical building to re-house and modernise its critical healthcare and emergency services.

Fitzgerald Mitchell, the hospital’s CEO, made the commitment during the official groundbreaking for the US$80-million (J$14-billion) project last Thursday.

“There will be noise reduction, mufflers on a lot of the equipment that is being used, similar to what is being done at Cornwall Regional Hospital. There will be dust mesh that will go around to mitigate dust,” Mitchell said. “We can’t eliminate everything, but we are going to ask that people be mindful of what is happening.”

The six-storey facility, which is the latest milestone under the UHWI Redevelopment and Modernisation Project, will feature advanced diagnostic and imaging centres, expanded emergency and critical care units, modern surgical suites with the latest technology, patient rooms, and dedicated spaces for medical education and research, among other critical care services.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton emphasised both the scale and purpose of the new medical tower, noting that the new structure represents an investment to include the acquisition of critical healthcare machinery and equipment for the various healthcare specialities.

He stated that healthcare works is a “hub and spoke” system that requires the simultaneous transformation of the UHWI not only as a health services provider but also as a training and research facility.

“If The University of the West Indies is not in a position to train more doctors to fill the gaps that exist, then we would likely lose the full optimised benefit of having an improved system by just building out hospitals and health centres in the rest of the country. This is where the heart of the research in medicine takes place. This is where most of the experts are,” said Tufton.

He added that, “ ... the Government addressed the various healthcare crises as they unfolded in recent years, while at the same time keeping focus on the strategic direction. So, today is a manifestation of a long period of planning”.

Specialised services

Echoing his sentiments, UHWI Medical Chief of Staff Dr Carl Bruce added that, as a quaternary hospital, the UHWI handles the most complex cases referred from other hospitals across the island.

“What we are now doing,” he explained, “is to place all of the treatment within this [single] advanced and critical care tower.”

It is expected that, when patients arrive at the new facility, they will have improved access to the specialised services as needed, and movement from one service area to another, especially under critical circumstances such as during adverse weather conditions, will be more efficient with all the critical services within the same building.

For his part, UHWI Board Chairman Patrick Hylton stated that, “this magnificent structure that we are building really represents more than bricks and mortar. It represents an unwavering commitment to provide world-class medical care to everyone who walks through its doors”.

Among its many specialised areas, the building will house: biomedical engineering services and heavy radiology in the basement; a pharmacy, Emergency Chest Pain and Stroke Centre on the first floor; patient reception, minor operating theatres, and an ambulatory and digestive centre on the second; robotics and hybrid operating suites on the fourth; a neonatal intensive care and special care nursery on the fifth; and ward beds with administrative offices on the sixth, with staff and visitor facilities on the roof.

Speaking as a representative of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles dubbed the groundbreaking “a critical juncture in a journey” that has kept the hospital “grounded in the philosophy of community medicine” since its founding in 1948.

Above all, Mitchell expressed gratitude, saying, “We really feel good that we are getting it done, and we are grateful for the support from the private sector, from the Government of Jamaica, and especially from our staff who have stuck with us over these many years.”

The new medical building was designed by architects Harold Morrison-Woodstock. ZDA Construction are the building contractors.