In front of about a dozen medical staff inside the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital Monday afternoon, the BVI Health Services Authority signed a $4 million deal with the Recovery and Development Agency to renovate parts of the hospital complex over two years.
“Following many years of utilisation, this Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, Major Peebles Wing, and the hospital annex now require significant investments in refurbishing, replacing and upgrading in order to maintain the appropriate standards of service,” said RDA CEO Anthony McMaster.
The project, he said, will consist of “seven or eight” works, including roof repairs, clinic lobby renovations, information technology upgrades, and the installation of a linked generator system for all three buildings in the complex.
But the works won’t all be carried out at once, he said.
“Specific improvements have been prioritised in seeking to maximise value for money achieved through implementation of these projects,” Mr. McMaster said.
The $4 million in funding comes from government’s recent $100 million loan from CIBC First Caribbean Bank, according to the RDA CEO.
RDA Director of Strategy Kinisha Forbes told the Beacon that the Finance Ministry had allocated the funds to the Ministry of Health and Social Development to be paid out over the course of two years.
Power cuts
BVIHSA Chairman Ron Potter did not attend the Monday ceremony, but in his place was authority board member John Cline.
During the event, Mr. Cline also fielded questions about power cuts to certain clinics last June after the BVIHSA failed to make the minimum payment on delinquent service charges owed to the BVI Electricity Corporation.
Mr. Cline explained that the delinquent bills were a result of government underfunding the authority.
“We run a multimillion-dollar facility, and there is power being drawn from everywhere,” Mr. Cline said. “And the HSA, especially Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, is not really a revenue-generating body. We’re not the private sector, where we are collecting fees for service or even looking to make a profit.”
Reliant on 90 percent of its funding from government, the BVIHSA struggles to make what he called the “high cost” electricity payments, he said.
Nurses needed
The premier also weighed in on the issue, stating that government has a responsibility to fund the BVIHSA sufficiently.
“We have the responsibility of ensuring that this facility — which quite a bit of resources was invested into — we have a responsibility to ensure that it is well equipped and that it is well staffed with individuals who are well compensated and competent,” Mr. Wheatley said Monday.
Mr. Cline also said the BVIHSA is short on medical labour and is currently seeking nurses.
“It’s a challenge competing with other jurisdictions in the Caribbean,” he said. “When we are competing with Bermuda and Cayman and places like that, whose salaries are more than ours, we have to do a better job.”
Despite the challenges, however, the BVIHSA is committed to increasing salaries, he said.