A $21.6 million ($21,689,196) contract was signed with Black Brothers Incorporated Limited to refurbish the Administrative Building of the Linstead Hospital in St. Catherine. The project is expected to be completed in eight (8) months. The scope of work includes roof construction, ceiling, wall and floor finishes, plumbing, electrical installation, external works, painting, door and window installation, tiling and steer way construction.
Speaking at the signing on Tuesday (May 12, 2015), Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson says this is a part of the overall development plan for primary and secondary care.
“In this financial year we will be taking on an additional twelve ((12) hospitals at a cost of $460 million and out of that Linstead Hospital will again benefit from the development of the Accident and Emergency area, Princess Margaret hospital will also benefit from further development of the accident and emergency area,” Dr. Ferguson said.
Dr. Ferguson added that since 2012 the Ministry began a programme to upgrade hospitals and has so far completed work on sixteen of these facilities at a cost of over $1.5 billion. As part of this, $55.7 million was spent towards the development of the Linstead hospital. For the South East Region in which Linstead falls the Ministry spent $221 million on Kingston Public and Victoria Jubilee Hospitals, 195.8 million on the Bustamante Hospital for Children, $53 million at Bellevue and $60 million at Princess Margaret hospitals.
The building being renovated at the Linstead hospital was originally a female ward. It was severely damaged by hurricane Ivan and had to be abandoned. The Administration Department is currently housed in the Accident and Emergency Department Building and so the plan is to renovate the building in order to move the administrative staff, in preparation for the renovation and expansion of the A&E.
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Stephanie Shaw Smith/Sharon Jones
Public Relations & Communication Unit