Health Minister delivers Peebles Hospital progress report in House of Assembly
Government Information Service - Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 2:39 PM
Peebles Hospital
In today’s session of the House of Assembly the Minister of Health and Social Development Dancia Penn delivered the progress report on the Peebles Hospital and other areas of under the purview of the ministry.
It reads as follows:
I am pleased to provide the people of this Territory with an update on the New Peebles Hospital construction project, as a follow up to my progress report made on October 21, 2010 at the First Sitting of the Fourth Session of this Honourable House.
You may recall my announcement that following a decision of The Cabinet, the Government of the Virgin Islands had entered into an Agreement with Hill International on September 24, 2010 to conduct a comprehensive qualitative assessment of all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, medical gases, and fire safety installations; referred to as the MEP works, at the New Peebles Hospital site.
I believe it is well known, Mr. Speaker, that this testing and inspection of MEP installations is all consequent on the termination of an Agreement with the former General Contractor, Carimex, LLC, which took effect on April 29, 2010.
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to inform this Honourable House that the testing and inspection of the MEP installations have now been completed by Hill International.
These test results are at the moment being analysed by Arup USA, Inc who will shortly submit to the Government a remedial plan to correct the defects identified.
These findings and recommendations will assist in determining the scope of work required to complete the internal works to certifiable standards, on the basis of which a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued once the procurement process is determined by The Cabinet.
Mr. Speaker I also reported to this honourable House that efforts are underway to identify a suitably qualified local contractor to perform all works associated with the external facades of the building (including windows, doors, glazing, external finishes, roofing, the hard landscaping, and other external works. To this end a Building Envelope and External Works tender was recently issued by the Central Tenders Board and, as previously reported, Cabinet approved the pre-qualification of three (3) local contractors (namely James Todman Construction Ltd, ADC Construction Ltd and Larry Adams Construction Ltd), to submit bids.
We await the outcome of that procurement process which, as you know, Mr. Speaker is managed by the Ministry of Finance.
As we continue to progress towards the completion of the physical facility, our commissioning consultants, InterHealth Canada, continue with its work to develop, and support the implementation of a commissioning strategy for the new Peebles Hospital.
I am pleased to inform you Mr. Speaker, and assure the public that in this regard, steady progress is being achieved in a number of key areas, they are:
1. A Performance Monitoring Accountability and Reporting structure has been agreed to guide the commissioning process.
2. A Community Needs Analysis has been completed.
3. A Draft Clinical Services Plan was developed in consultation with the BVI Health Services Authority.
4. A Clinically focused Review of the Design and functional layout of New and existing Hospital Buildings was carried out.
5. Departmental Commissioning Teams were established within the BVI Health Services Authority to work alongside the Consultants to guide the commissioning process.
6. A draft Clinical Services Delivery (CSD) & System Integration Plan was prepared, which will be used to guide the development of Integrated Service delivery models in the new Hospital.
7. An updated equipment list was completed and has been submitted to the Ministry.
8. A draft Request For Proposals for the procurement of an electronic Health Information Management system has been developed and submitted to the BVI Health Services Authority.
9. An Operational Review of the BVI Health Services Authority was conducted and a preliminary draft report has been submitted.
10. A review of current staffing levels and models has been completed and a draft Staffing Strategy developed to guide the recruitment, orientation, development and retention of staff.
11. Work has begun on the development of Corporate and Departmental Policies and Procedures and will continue over the next several months in accordance with the programme of activities.
12. Initial review of current quality programmes and activities has been undertaken including discussions with respect to a programme of accreditation by an international body.
13. A Draft Communications Plan was developed and presented at the Commissioning Steering Committee for the hospital project.
In summary Mr. Speaker, we remain steadfast in our efforts to put in place proper arrangements to carry out the remediation and other works necessary to complete the outstanding construction and fit out of the new Peebles Hospital.
While those works are ongoing Mr. Speaker, the necessary preparations are being made on a daily basis to proceed with clinical commissioning and proper management of the new Peebles Hospital with due regard to international healthcare standards for the operating of hospitals.
When all is said and done, Mr. Speaker, the delivery of clinical services must be of a level which will ensure that the new hospital achieves and maintains the highest and best standards, is able to deliver to deliver proper care to all of us; that it maintains international accreditation, and hence positions itself as a preferred healthcare provider here in our country, and the region.
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6 Comments
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The govt. is a joke…..they, not Carimex have screwed up this project. Ralph, wake up and smell the coffee.
Blah, blah, blah! What is most striking here is that most items on the list of ‘updates’ should have been in place before ground breaking.
‘A Community Needs Analysis,’ ‘A Clinical Services Plan,’ ‘An Operational Review,’
Then a competent project management team should have been employed, directly responsible to the government.
Oh well, I guess we’ll keep stumbling along.
Smoke and mirrors – this Government has an absolutely appalling record of completing major projects every one always ends up in the courts with massive claims. Carimex has lodged one claim for over $30m largely due to serious delays in the Government making key decisions and providing the vital information to complete the build and most of what is said here illustrates how inept the BVI Government is of planning clinical needs and making critical equipment and staff decisions in advance. Not least actually paying the contractor. I can see this building being either knocked down or converted into a hotel.
@sam the man, I’m unsure about all that you say, however you have got a point about this Governments complete failure to manage a major construction project and provide appropriate direction . As I’ve heard this project didn’t even have a specialist Project manager running it but was done “in house”…. no doubt an ill advised step to try and save a buck or two – yet on one of the most expensive projects in Tortola. It seems to me that often the Government runs out of money then get all uptight when people question why they aren’t being paid, then its goodbye and find/make up some excuse to get rid of them…..is it that simple? I hope you are wrong and that the building won’t be knocked down or turned into a hotel but I’ve heard that whilst people think its not far off being finished – the Government have been very economical with the truth and the reality is that inside it is only a shell with not even one wall finished,floor finished,ceiling finished, no lights,medical equipment, clinical installations etc.
I think the Government should tell the people the true story and show pictures of what its really like inside the exterior – but I bet they won’t!
@Frustrated, I actually have obtained some photos of the interior and its exactly as you said nothing more than an empty shell – but if these pictures ever made it into the papers they would dreadfully expose the Governments posturing so may be best to not release them? In many ways with the disasterous way the Government have handled this it may be best to just knock the building down and start afresh.
Right on
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