A NEAR $2O MILLION INJECTION should soon see safer health care conditions and improved eye and heart treatment for patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
Minister of Health Donville Inniss told the DAILY NATION yesterday that a $14 million electrical upgrade at the QEH would be completed by June.
The St James South MP also said more than $5 million was being provided for a cardiac suite.
The electrical upgrade would alleviate an age-old problem faced by patients and medical staff whenever there was a power outage at the Martindales Road, St Michael facility, according to Inniss.
He said that in 2008 the electrical system at the hospital was found to be in a very precarious position and a decision was made that an electrical upgrade was a priority.
Inniss stated that within weeks the QEH would be equipped with an adequate ancillary power supply and in the event of loss of power from the Barbados Light & Power Company Limited the facility would be able to generate its own power for the entire plant for between 24 and 48 hours.
“A lot of equipment and upgrades could not take place in and around the QEH because there would not have been adequate power,” he reported.
“The building to house most of the equipment has been completed. The majority of the trenching has taken place and we are now awaiting the arrival of generators and other such gear from Britain.”
The health minister said that two senior officers from the QEH would be travelling to Britain during the week to inspect the equipment that is to be shipped to Barbados.
Inniss also revealed that the building financed by the Barbados Lions Club almost two decades ago would be brought “back on stream” during the 2011-2012 financial year.
He said that in the mid-1990s when the building was first completed it remained closed for more than a year. This compromised the facility with respect to air conditioning, according to Inniss.
He stated that a decision had been made to move most of the operations out of the building which was primarily for ophthalmology and cardiac services.
He noted professionals had been brought in to redesign the air conditioning system and a contract would soon be awarded for the installation of a state-of-the-art air conditioning system for the entire Lions Eye Care building.
Work is expected to take between three and six months.
“Within that building we expect to house, once again, a state-of-the-art ophthalmology centre catering to the needs of Barbadians and those in the eastern Caribbean,” Inniss said.
He noted that thus far there was about $5.1 million for the provision of a cardiac suite within the same eye care building which is located at the QEH.
Inniss stressed the money represented the “single largest donation” by Lions International to the Caribbean. However, he bemoaned the fact that the building had not been maintained over the years.