The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE groundbreaking for the new Grand Bahama hospital will be held on May 16th, according to Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville.

Dr Darville told reporters on Thursday the government will break ground for the upcoming new state-of-the-art hospital next month.

“After what happened with Hurricane Dorian and the flooding at the Rand Memorial Hospital a decision was made by this administration to go to a new greenfield site to construct this new facility,” he said. “I am pleased to report to the media that, God willing, on the 16th of May, we will be doing the groundbreaking for phase one of that facility,” he said.

The Health Minister noted the facility will be built in two phases during the construction process.

“Phase one will give us the urgent care facility that we need to subsidise what is going (on) at the Rand Memorial Hospital,” Dr Darville said. “While phase two is the building of our multi-storey tower that will encompass many of the other needed services in Grand Bahama. And when that is completed, the Rand Memorial Hospital will be downgraded to a secondary facility where we will provide strictly psychiatric and geriatric care. And we will utilise those theatres as same-day surgery.”

The new state-of-the-art hospital will help in providing quality healthcare to Grand Bahama residents. A new hospital is desperately needed in Grand Bahama, as the Rand Memorial Hospital sustained significant damage during Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.

Additionally, Dr Darville said officials have worked actively to prepare the Rand Memorial Hospital for hurricane season, which is from June 1 through November 30.

“You will see the work that I have done to prepare the Rand Memorial Hospital for the hurricane season,” he said. “I have some new modular units, that will finally decompress the triaging services that are currently taking place outside of the accident emergency at the Rand Memorial Hospital and not subject the residents of Grand Bahama to that type of service any longer.”

He continued: “So you'll get an opportunity to see our modular units, which are now there to ensure that the function in the Rand Memorial Hospital meets that particular standard while we move for the launch and the groundbreaking of our new tertiary facility in Grand Bahama.”