Partial Opening for New Hospital?

THE Government of Saint Lucia will consider the partial commissioning of the Owen King EU Hospital in order to make key health services accessible to the public, acting Prime Minister Guy Joseph said last Friday, following a tour of the health facility.

The minister said the visit provided Cabinet members with information that will guide decisions regarding the hospital’s completion.

“Cabinet is working collaboratively with the health sector team with a view to achieving the partial delivery of health services within a reasonable time-frame,” Minister Joseph said. “The focus is firstly to ensure that the key services can be made available to the public, even if it is on an outpatient basis in the first instance.”

The government is also placing emphasis on bringing relief to locals who currently have to travel to access medical services abroad.

“We are keeping at the forefront the vital services that Saint Lucians now travel overseas to access,” he said. “Some of these services will be available at the facility, and as such [will] minimize costs to the public.”

Minister Joseph added that Cabinet members were impressed with the state-of-the-art health facility and the suite of new medical services it will offer.

The European Union funded the construction and equipping of the Owen King EU Hospital at a total of EC$167 million. It is the largest infrastructural project ever executed by the European Union in the Eastern Caribbean.