Oct 28, 1999

KPH project behind Budget will stay the same THE KINGSTON Public Hospital's (KPH) expansion and refurbishing project is expected to run six months behind schedule but the original cost stands, says George Briggs, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health. On Tuesday, Mr. Briggs told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the deadline had been revised from March to September 2000. However, there would be no cost overruns because the Government had a fixed-price contract with Italian contractor Rizzan de Eccher. The six-month delay, explained Mr. Briggs, was due in part to the synchronisation of activities when some sections of the hospital had to be taken out of service for work to take place. He said changes were also necessary to the design and scope of work, pointing out that the original designs were done about 10 years ago. Additionally, the pace of work slowed down at times because of poor productivity. When completed, the $520 million project will restore the KPH to a 500-bed institution. The out-patient department will be upgraded, 45 examination and consulting rooms added and the capacity of the operating theatre increased. Six new surgical wards will also be part of the new-look facility. Funds for the project have been provided jointly by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The project is managed by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC). Mr. Briggs also disclosed that the St. Ann's Bay Hospital which is being expanded and refurbished for about $350 million and the new hospital being constructed in Mandeville at about $650 million, were on schedule for a March 2000 completion. In St. Ann's Bay, a maternity and paediatric department will form part of the new facilities. The new May Pen Hospital is also to be upgraded from a Type C to a Type B facility during the 2000/2001 financial year, but this would depend on the budget, Mr. Briggs said. The US$92 million May Pen facility is the first new secondary health facility constructed in Jamaica in more than 20 years.

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