PoS hospital block clearing out

The process of rebuilding the central block of Port of Spain General Hospital has begun with the clearing of the site, with hopes of starting to build in a year.

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh made the announcement yesterday at the second instalment of The Great Pap Smear Initiative at the Mt Hope Women’s Centre while speaking to members of the media.

He said the work was being done in two phases – clearing the site and building the structure.

He explained that clearing the site entailed constructing new buildings to which several services, including engineering, would be transferred. When that was completed, the block would be demolished and cleared for rebuilding. He added that he did not yet have an idea of the cost of the project.

In addition, Deyalsingh said he was confident his ministry would receive the money to continue infrastructural upgrades of health facilities through the Public Sector Investment Programme in the 2019 budget to be presented tomorrow.

“You can’t provide excellent health care in facilities that are not first class. And our facilities, as you know, have been neglected for decades. We have started a programme of electrical upgrades, ceilings, and major medical equipment.”

He said over the past year the ministry had been investing in new medical equipment and maintenance, and as a result there had been very few breakdowns of major medical equipment.