Guy: Cornwall Regional reno could cost $10b
Published:Thursday | May 5, 2022 | 12:13 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH THE rehabilitation of Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) projected for completion by December 2024, Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr Morais Guy is convinced that the renovation costs could be almost double the Government’s Budget estimate.
Speaking to journalists following Wednesday’s tour of the ongoing work at the Mount Salem, St James, hospital, Guy said that he believes the cost may hit $10 billion.
“If you look at the Budget estimate, it says that the CRH is going to cost some $5.8 billion to complete, but the Budget only speaks to the 2022-2023 financial year. If, as we have been told, it is another two and a half years before it is completely commissioned and patients moved in, then we are looking at additional funding,” said Guy.
“What has happened in terms of the $4 billion spent so far, it has not only involved the rehabilitation exclusively. What has happened to expand some of the services and convert the residences and other things to build out the accident and emergency ward are within the $4 billion.”
Guy also voiced concern over whether the CRH, upon completion, would be able to manage the increased demands of western Jamaica’s modern medical needs compared to when the Type A hospital was erected in 1974.
“The CRH was built in the 1970s, but the reality is that now we are in 2022 and the population has blossomed significantly. Will the CRH, when it is ready in two years’ time, be sufficient to cater for the expanded population? It is something that the health authorities need to look into because we will have a Type A hospital but we will not have the capacity to serve the people,” said Guy.
Operations at CRH were affected when staffers reported unease from noxious fumes in September 2016, resulting in the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department being vacated. A few months later, in February 2017, the fumes affected operations on the building’s first three floors, resulting in several services being relocated.
The fumes were subsequently found to have been caused by fibreglass particles emanating from the building’s 20-year-old ventilation system, which had just been put back in operation at that time.
Since then, other infrastructural issues have emerged.
Engineering firm M&M Jamaica is carrying out the works at the CRH, having signed a $1.6-billion contract with the Ministry of Health and Wellness last November.