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A view of workmen on the site of the expansion of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) Renovation and Expansion project.  The media was taken on a tour of the project yesterday.

Expansion of A&E resuming

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Accident and Emergency Department
(A&E) Renovation and Expansion project is set to resume after a
seven-week hiatus due to the impact of COVID-19.

Yesterday, Lt. Col. the Honourable Jeffrey Bostic, Minister of Health
and Wellness, got a first-hand look at the work carried out thus far
at the Martindale’s Road site during phase one, which entailed
enclosing the project site as well as the construction of an access
road, sewerage, drainage and car park works.

The Minister, who was accompanied by Dr. Abdul Mohamed, Deputy
Chairman of QEH’s Board of Management; and Director of Engineering
Services at QEH, Paula Agbowu, revealed to the media that the project
– which has three phases – had an initial price tag of $11.5 million.

“I believe that it was $11.5 million that was voted in parliament, and
the estimated cost at this time based on all phases that we are trying
to do here and of course some additional things have gone into it
could be in the region of $13.5 million or so at this point in time.”

Phase two, which is about to get underway, will consist of the
construction of a new 9 000 square feet single-storey reinforced
concrete building to the north of the existing AED; and the final
phase of the project, phase three, will entail the reconfiguration and
renovation of the present AED to better align with the current and
projected needs of the department.

“Phase 2 will see a structure up and open sometime in February, that
will fall within the current budget. So we are looking definitely to
have the new structure up and running by mid-February or so, and then
we will work on the other phase going forward,” he indicated.

“Like everything else, COVID would have impacted on the progress of
work here on the site. I believe it took about seven weeks away from
the plans that we had in terms of time. But…we had to stop because
obviously all of us had to take care of the impact and the response of
COVID-19.

“So I am glad that it has restarted and I am happy with what I have
seen during the tour. And certainly when I look at the plans for the
entire project, I think that this is something that Barbadians are
going to be exceedingly excited and proud about,” Minister Bostic
added. (TL)
 

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