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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Bahamas Information Services Updates
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama - Prime Minister of The Bahamas, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, was present for signing of two contracts, for just under $4 million, for major renovations at the Rand Memorial Hospital on Monday, September 26, 2016. The first contract, the amount of $2,374,736.68 with Landstar Construction Company Ltd., will relocate the hospital's kitchen and cafeteria allowing for the repurposing of the newly vacated space into two four-bedded wards. As a result, there will be the construction of new and upgraded kitchen and cafeteria facilities expected to be completed within 32 weeks from the beginning of construction. The second contract was signed with Pinnacle Investment Construction Company Ltd., to construct a secure, covered weatherproof corridor between the existing Rand Memorial Hospital campus and the new cafeteria located in the Royal Palm Resort structure. Pinnacle will also construct an On-Call Suite which will allow doctors who are on-call to be in the hospital for 24 hours, seven days a week. This will ensure that they are on site, when needed. The amount of this contract is $1,620,666.53. Also addressing the Ministry of Health and Public Hospitals Authority Contract Signing Ceremony were: Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville; Chairman of PHA Board of Directors Senator the Hon. Frank Smith; and Managing Director, PHA, Herbert Brown.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development, the Hon. Philip Davis along with Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe were also in attendance. The Prime Minister opened his address by saying that he had to respond to an article in the newspaper with the headline, "Princess Margaret Hospital to its knees". He said that he realized that as Prime Minister, he has an obligation to respond. Health care, he pointed out, has improved immeasurably in The Bahamas over time; but it is always a work in progress. What Bahamians must come to appreciate, he said, “is the challenge a central government faces in dedicating resources to the development of our country, and making choices on which area gets what. "How do you balance education and educational requirements with health requirements, when there is a fundamental right for a person to live." He continued, "We have to make choices as to what we do in Bimini, Abaco, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Ragged Island. We have to make choices." The air conditioning in the new Critical Care Block, that cost $100M in equipment and staff, had failed after power cuts in New Providence. Of the six units, two were running and four were down. This should be rectified by the end of the week with new compressors having been ordered, along with surge protectors. When taking office in 2012 and seeing the condition of the Princess Margaret Hospital, the Prime Minister said his government knew they had to modernize the plant. "There is an international planning firm called the Beck Group, now headed by a Bahamian. That group, which did the overall vision and plan for the Critical Care Block at the Princess Margaret Hospital, is working here in Grand Bahama, and we commissioned it to prepare a plan for the entire hospital plant in New Providence." Improvements are being made at the existing facilities in New Providence and Grand Bahama. In November, the ground breaking of the proposed Freeport Community Clinic, the first phase of a new hospital in Grand Bahama, will be held.
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