Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Horace Chang has indicated that there is a possibility for the Government to make a return on the millions of dollars being spent by taxpayers for the ongoing rehabilitation work on the ailing Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.
Dr. Chang, a medical doctor who was a former Medical Officer of Health told journalists in St James following a tour of the hospital and the neighboring Western Children and Adolescent Hospital, that over four billion dollars is being spent on new equipment which is being used primarily for rehabilitation work on the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.
On March 7, Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton revealed that the estimated cost to rehabilitate the hospital was revised to 14.1- billion dollars.
Dr. Chang said the hospital can be used to market Jamaica as a tourist destination.
Dr. Horace Chang.
Last March, Dr. Tufton had stated that he was hoping work on the delay-plagued institution will be completed before 2025.
Limited occupation is expected by the end of the year.
Rehabilitation work had started on the institution in 2017.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chang says construction work on the Western Children and Adolescent Hospital is progressing well.
He noted that when both hospitals are completed at around the same time, Jamaica will have the finest hospitals.
Ground was broken for the six-storey, 220-bed Western Children and Adolescent Hospital on the compound of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Mount Salem on October 23, 2019.
Funding is being provided by the Government’s of Jamaica and the People’s Republic of China.
The project is being managed by the Urban Development Corporation.
When completed, the state-of-the-art facility will be the only one of its kind in the Caribbean that will be able to treat children and adolescents up to 16 years old.
On the other hand, Cornwall Regional Hospital is a 10 storey building constructed in 1974 and has the capability to house 400 beds.
It is a Type -A facility that provides specialist services.
