In about a year, Barbados will have a one-stop, 24-hour, multi-purpose urgent care facility, as a result of a $12 million investment in the expansion of the Bayview Hospital.
During a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday at the St Paul’s Avenue, St Michael location, officials said the upgraded healthcare facility will serve to complement the range of medical services on the island.
Bayview Hospital Administrator Jules Reid said the construction of the purpose-built three-storey medical centre will result in greater efficiency and speed from a cadre of specialists and medical professionals.
“Bayview Hospital is taking its current 22-bed, inclusive of a two-bed intensive care unit, three operating theatre service, to the next level. We shall be offering all of Barbados access to a seven-day a week, around-the-clock emergency and accident service complemented by our own ambulance service, radiology, and diagnostic services,” said Reid.
“In creating this vision and plan we took into consideration market research which suggested that a 2023 private urgent care facility should seek to cater to as many as 80 patients a day. We embrace this standard and also added to the plan, provision of a 24-hour ambulance, laboratory and radiology departments. So in effect, we are seeking to offer an upgraded and expanded Bayview Hospital, a one-stop-shop service,” she explained.
She also noted that the radiology department will be outfitted with a new CT scan, the fifth on island. The facility will also host a new operating theatre, designed and outfitted with modern technologies.
Reid said the state-of-the-art facility will help to position Barbados as a destination of choice for medical tourism, and will result in the creation of new job opportunities.
“We will therefore be hiring additional physicians, nursing staff and other disciplines required in the provision of first-rate medical services. This presents the opportunity for Barbadians resident at home and abroad to avail themselves to become a part of the family here at Bayview and this exciting new initiative,” said Reid.
She gave the assurance that medical services will not be suspended during the construction phase and there would be little to no inconvenience. The bulk of the construction will be done off site and brought to the location for installation.
“This will allow for all current services to continue throughout the 12-month period of construction,” she assured.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who was accompanied to the groundbreaking ceremony by several of her government ministers, said the investment in a modern urgent care medical facility was a vote of confidence in the local economy.
“Above all else, it is a statement of confidence. It is a statement of confidence of where this country is in spite of a pandemic and all else that we are facing. No one takes up $12 million and invests in something unless they expect a level of return commensurate to the investment they are making,” said Mottley.
Mottley thanked Chairman of the Bayview Hospital Peter Harris and his board of directors for the confidence they are placing in the local economy and its growth at this stage. This, she said, allows Barbados to improve the quality of services provided to Barbadians and frontally attack the question of prices given the fact that scarcity literally increases the cost of services in the country.
“This level of confidence is pleasing to the Government particularly in the health sector, because as you will hear more and more, as we refine Barbados’ opportunities for growth, we believe medical services and medical tourism is a key platform upon which this country can continue to earn its way,” she said.
Mottley also indicated that there was the opportunity for a review of the memorandum of understanding between the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Bayview Hospital “to ensure that both institutions, even though one public and one private, can work cooperatively in a small island jurisdiction to be able to access the benefits that pooling can give them in terms of procurement not just in pharmaceuticals but also supplies and equipment”.
“Barbados is simply too small for each institution to try to wade [through] the rough waters on their own and therefore that cooperative approach can bring benefits to both Bayview Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in terms of the services they provide,” said Mottley.
