PM Kamla opens phase 1 of Scarborough hospital Wednesday

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will deliver the feature address at the Commission of Services for the New Scarborough General Hospital on Wednesday at the Scarborough General Hospital, Signal Hill, Tobago.

Minister of Health Dr. Fuad Khan and the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Orville London will also address the audience.

The final cost of the 100-bed, state-of-the-art hospital is expected to be around $725 million. The original projected cost was $130 million.

Related story: PM Kamla calls cost of Tobago hospital a scandal

The hospital is being opened in phases with diagnostic services available from Thursday April 5, 2012.

Other services that will become available with the opening of the first phase include outpatient, pharmacy and laboratory services, as well as the radiology department with CT scans. The mortuary will also open during the initial phase.

Intensive care, cardiology, critical care medicine and other specialty services will be available later.

The sod for the hospital was turned in 2000 during the Panday UNC administration but construction did not begin until 2003 under the Manning PNM regime with NH International as the contractor.

There was a two-year delay to deal with court matters relating to the contractor and Nipdec, the government agency handling the project. That ended with a change from NH to China Railway as the contractor.

When the new People's Partnership government took office the hospital was still not completed and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar promised to speed up construction in order get the hospital ready in the quickest possible time.

The THA claims the hospital as a PNM treasure, although all through the PNM reign the project had been mired in controversy and massive cost over runs.

Read related Health sector story: PM turns sod for 230-bed Couva Children's Hospital