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Health minister earmarks St. Jude reopening for September 2011

Contact:  Shannon Lebourne

Wednesday 15 June 2011 – Consistent with its mandate to provide quality healthcare for all, the government of Saint Lucia has expressed plans to formally reopen the St Jude Hospital in Vieux-Fort on September 9, 2011 – the anniversary date of the dreadful St Jude fire two years ago.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the GIS, Health Minister Honourable Dr Keith Mondesir expressed great satisfaction with the progress of the reconstruction work undertaken thus far.

Minster Mondesir says a delegation from Taiwan is presently engaged in work on island, in keeping with the commitment expressed by the Taiwanese government mere hours after the hospital was engulfed.

“Remember the Taiwanese are building the surgical ward and the government of Taiwan is fully financing that aspect of the project while the government of Saint Lucia is financing the  other two blocks. There are some modifications being undertaken on the other two buildings, so indeed work is in progress.”

The recommissioning of the St Jude Hospital along the Augier Highway is expected to enhance the level of medical care and service the institution provides to residents of Vieux-Fort and other southern communities.

Chief Executive Officer of the St Jude Hospital Dr Cherry Poyotte says once complete, the new institution will have all modern hospital facilities.

“At the very least, one of the direct benefits from the very unfortunate incident is the offer from the Taiwanese to construct the surgical ward. I think perhaps the most important thing coming out of that is that we will have a brand new three-unit operating room. As a physician, the operating room is the core of any hospital activity and so it can be said quite definitely that the new St Jude Hospital certainly from the point of the operating room will have better equipment and better facilities than we had at the old site.”

The reconstruction and upgrade of the St Jude Hospital is estimated at a cost of $EC 26 million.

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