Moriah Health Centre on course for next year

The Moriah Health Centre is on course to be completed in April 2020.

Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Dr Agatha Carrington made the revelation whilst addressing Wednesday’s post-Executive Council media briefing in Scarborough.

Carrington said the centre was in progress and the division was keeping to its timeline of April 2020.

She also said 40 per cent of the labour came from the community.

In August 2018, the sod was turned for the long-awaited health centre and work was earmarked to begin on May 1, 2019. Work on the $28 million centre is being overseen by the Urban Development Company (Udecott).

Carrington also addressed the plans for the Roxborough Hospital, saying the division was looking forward to its 15-month timeline as it sought to deliver the hospital and the Roxborough primary care centre, offering two services on one site.

“Our expectation is that the gaps we have in services for east Tobago would be realised as these facilities come on board,” she said, adding that work should start shortly, as she was asked when the construction would begin.

“I expect that it wouldn’t be beyond August, because the contractor is already on board, and all of that.”

On July 17, the Prime Minister turned the sod at the Bloody Bay Road, Roxborough, site for the $60 million project. On completion, the hospital is expected to be a state-of-the-art facility.

The sod-turning followed two recent public consultations at which residents asked for the new hospital and health centre to be on the same site and for Udecott to revisit the site and direction of the flow of water from the river, because of the current flooding problem. They also felt a heliport should be built at the hospital and that the hospital should not be elevated.

They also called for accommodation to be provided for doctors and nurses so they could overnight, saying 40 per cent of the staff should be from the Roxborough community.

Carrington said the recommendations made during the consultations would be taken on board.

“We have met with the contractor, the project manager, and we are doing weekly meetings so that the information, in terms of what we gathered, we would have already incorporated the issues in terms of what they would have raised. The other areas that they spoke about in terms of the staffing, we would look at those as we seek to have the service operational.

“The final design would take into account what they asked for.”

Construction is estimated to last 15 months and to be completed by October 31, 2020.

Both primary and secondary care services will be offered at the new hospital. Wellness programmes and disease prevention activities will continue to be provided at the primary-care level. Secondary-care services at the new hospital will include an emergency room; operating theatre; medical, surgical, paediatric and maternity wards; intensive care unit; nursery and clinical support services (imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dialysis unit and helipad for transferring emergencies).