State-of-the art hospital on schedule says health minister
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State-of-the art hospital on schedule says health minister |
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Contact: Shannon Lebourne
Wednesday June 8, 2011 - The Ministry of Health says construction of the new National General Hospital is progressing smoothly for an scheduled completion.
Health Minister Honorable Dr Keith Mondesir says the hospital is about 55% complete.
Minister Mondesir says the government of Saint Lucia is committed to funding training of personnel and equipping the new hospital.
“Something good came out of Hurricane Tomas because when the European Union came to us we were informed that we were supposed to equip the hospital—the EU is building the facility but the Government of Saint Lucia was responsible for funding the equipment. Following negotiations with the EU, they have promised to give us about $6M Euros for equipment and since then they have confirmed this. The EU has sent down a consultant and who has told us that we will receive state-of-the-art digital equipment.”
The Health Minister says the government of Saint Lucia continues to invest heavily in training personnel to manage the new hospital once it is complete.
Dr Mondesir says Saint Lucia is partnering with Mexico and other diplomatic allies to provide training for doctors and nurses in specialised fields.
“As we speak, we have a number of nurses being trained in cardiology and government continues to look for resources to train our people because I believe it is very costly for us as a small country to afford top notch doctors and these doctors are at a premium because universities want them and overseas hospitals also want them. I have always said to create a top notch doctor you require two legs, two hands and a brain and we have a very good brain pool down here, so we are sending our people to train so by the time we are ready for this new hospital we will have well trained personal to manage the facility.”
Dr Mondesir says the new general hospital which is being built along the Millennium Highway will provide the opportunity for government to deliver its plan for an improved and comprehensive health services sector.
The new general hospital is expected to be completed by mid 2012.
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