FRIDAY, AUGUST 02, 2024
VOLUME 118, No.31
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Another step towards the new hospital An artist’s impression of what the Acute Referral Hospital could look like.
The Milton Cato Memorial Hospitals, with all the challenges it currently faces, is earmarked for transformation into a specific-purposed institution. ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS BEGINNING THE construction of the Acute Referral Hospital at Arnos Vale was taken here recently, July 26, when Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves signed an agreement with the Taiwanese Company, Overseas Engineering and Construction Company (OECC), the OECC. The Hospital will be constructed on the northern side of the runway on the decommissioned E.T. Joshua, and the agreement referenced will allow the OECC to take control of that site as of July 31, 2024, so as to, it is assumed, begin preparation of the site and commence construction before year end. The estimated total cost to construct and equip the hospital is said to be approximately US$110 million, and the estimated construction time is 32 months. Funding will be provided by the World Bank under the Regional Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, for 80% of the cost, and the remainder will be sourced through a soft loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development.
(L-R) Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Taiwan’s Ambassador to SVG H.E. Fiona Huei-chun Fan and a Representative of OECC at the signing of an agreement on July 26, 2024.
In excess of US$80 is expected to be spent on the construction of the hospital and purchasing of necessary equipment. Some of the remainder will be set aside for strengthening healthcare resilience through a system of reforms across the sector and project management and consultancy fees, the Prime Minister said. THE VINCENTIAN understands that Pinearq, an award-winning international company based in Barcelona, Spain, and which specializes in the development of complex facilities for the health sciences, together with Mallol Arquitectos, is designing the new Hospital. Pinearq has assured that the design of the new hospital will take into account all the necessary measures to withstand possible natural disasters, very frequent on the island. The Acute Referral Hospital is expected, according to official documentation, to allow “the Government to be better able to respond to public
health emergencies and build resilience. Health services would be expanded, while there would be the introduction of new services such as Cardiology, Neurology including enhanced acute stroke care, Thyroid services, Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, enhanced Ophthalmology as well as major invasive surgeries.” This is in keeping, according to Health Minister St. Clair Prince, with Government’s ongoing thrust towards modernising the health sector, especially considering the fact, he added, that the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital has many challenges in terms of layout and functionality and its inability to expand. The Milton Cato Memorial Hospital will be transformed into a Maternal Child and Health Centre of Excellence once the state-of-the-art Acute Care Hospital is opened. Earlier indications from the Unity Labour Party government spoke of future urban development of this area, i.e. a new city, with the new healthcare centre as the starting point for this development.