Govt unveils $390M Queen Elizabeth Hospital expansion project

The government has secured US$195 million (BDS$390 million) to expand the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, with groundbreaking expected before year-end and the project set to boost capacity by about 40 per cent, Minister of Health Senator Jerome Walcott announced on Monday.

The project is being financed through a deferred payment agreement with a Chinese consortium, under a loan at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent over 11 years, he said as the loan agreement was signed in a ceremony at Government Headquarters.

Sen. Walcott described the project as “a very important day for the Ministry of Health, and more in particular for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, an institution that is over 60 years old”.

“It is roughly estimated to comprise 50 000 square metres of the present hospital, and this expansion will provide another, I believe, 19 320 square metres,” said the health minister. “So this is an increase in the size of the hospital by roughly 40 per cent.”

The expansion will include two new towers, connected to the existing hospital by a bridge over Martindale’s Road. One tower will house the laboratory, four new wards providing 96 additional beds, a burn unit, and expanded outpatient facilities, while the second will accommodate a cancer treatment centre and administrative offices.

There are 550 beds at the QEH but only 420 are being used.

Senator Walcott said the oncology unit will feature advanced technologies, to take cancer care “to a different level in Barbados”.

The new technologies include a linear accelerator, which uses high-energy X-rays or electrons to deliver external beam radiation therapy to cancer patients, and brachytherapy, a form of radiation therapy in which the radiation source is implanted next to the tumour. The unit will also include a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner, an imaging test that uses a radioactive substance to show how organs and tissues are functioning at a cellular level and a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that creates high-energy beams for radiation therapy.

The health minister also announced plans for staff amenities, such as a gym and a crèche for nurses’ children, acknowledging long-standing requests from healthcare professionals.

Noting that Barbados has faced recurrent problems with laboratory capacity and environmental conditions, which became more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Walcott said the new laboratory will be “state-of-the-art” and designed to handle “new and re-emerging diseases” and the “battles of antimicrobial resistance”.

Construction is estimated to take 42 months – about three and a half years – once ground is broken. “We were hoping, and we’re still hoping, that we could have groundbreaking before the end of this year,” Senator Walcott added.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn said that while Chinese contractors will undertake the main construction, “there will be 60 per cent participation of Chinese labour, 40 per cent local,” ensuring Barbadian involvement in the project.

Responding to questions about why the Harrison Point facility in St Lucy which was retrofitted for the pandemic was not chosen for the expansion, Dr Walcott said the QEH’s location in Bridgetown remains ideal for ease of accessibility.

Straughn said the project represents one of the government’s most significant social investments to date.

“Healthcare has always been one of the primary claims on expenditure,” he said. “We have prioritised within our debt profile these loans to deliver better healthcare for our citizens.

“It will be approximately [US] $195 million, but we are borrowing in Chinese currency at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent over 11 years, which in the current circumstance represents the best concessional financing that the Government of Barbados could have received given the mandate with respect to the expansion and the urgency that is there.”

Straughn said the agreement reflects prudent fiscal management following debt restructuring and the need to reinvest in key social sectors.

“This financing represents the best concessional terms that the Government of Barbados could have received,” he said. “It is not just about the buildings themselves, but how we engage our citizens to make different choices with respect to their lifestyles such that these investments will pay off.”

He added that the project forms part of a wider health system transformation, which also includes the refurbishment of polyclinics across Barbados with support from the Saudi Fund for Development, and recent financing to upgrade QEH’s medical equipment through Barbadian credit unions.

Straughn sought to assure Barbadians that the expansion will improve accessibility, reduce waiting times, and enhance the working environment for doctors and nurses.

“With the smooth execution of these works, the ecosystem of healthcare delivery will improve,” he said. “Costs will come down, accessibility will improve, and waiting time should be shortened because of the expanded capacity.”

(SZB)