BRIDGETOWN, Guyana (GIS) – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is set to undergo a major expansion valued at BDS $390 million, which will include the construction of a new laboratory, a burns facility, and an oncology unit.
The project will also feature additional outpatient spaces, a helipad, staff gym, daycare centre, and administrative offices. A bridge will be constructed across Martindale’s Road to connect the existing hospital to the old Enmore Clinic, where the expansion will take place.
Minister in the ministry of finance, Ryan Straughn, and minister of health and wellness, senator Dr Jerome Walcott, signed the loan agreement at Government Headquarters yesterday, along with Jiao Cui of China Sinopharm International Corporation, and Dong Sheng Li and Kai Shi from China Railway (Caribbean) Construction Ltd.
Following the signing, minister Straughn said government remained committed to providing adequate financing for the health sector, particularly in light of the increasing costs of treating non-communicable diseases. He explained that the expansion would be financed through a deferred payment agreement with China.
“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,” minister Straughn stated.
Minister Walcott noted that the process began with an “unsolicited proposal” in 2023 from the Chinese consortium.
“We thought best practice required that we go through the procurement and, in spite of that, we did a request for information. This was in February last year. Out of that came two expressions of interest from the consortium and another company, I believe it was out of Canada, and thereafter we did a request for proposals,” he explained.
Outlining the scope of the project, Senator Walcott shared that the QEH covers approximately 50,000 square metres, and the expansion will add 19,320 square metres, an increase of about 40 per cent.
“It is expected that this construction will comprise of two towers linked to the present building by a bridge over Martindale’s Road. So, there’ll be a bridge over the road linking to the first block, which would be one that will comprise the lab, the additional wards, the burns unit, [and] the outpatient department. The other building, which should be just across Enmore, would be the oncology centre and the administrative block, which will house IT (information technology) and so on,” he stated.
Senator Walcott said the oncology department would be state-of-the-art, equipped with another linear accelerator machine for cancer treatment, along with brachytherapy, a gamma CT facility, PET gamma, and a cyclotron.
“So, we’re taking oncology to a different level in Barbados,” he added, noting that these will all be available in that facility. He also highlighted the importance of the burns unit, given the push towards electrical vehicles, which were known to have issues related to spontaneous combustion.
“Recognising how expensive it is to treat persons who’ve had major burns and that we normally have to ship, transfer them overseas at quite expensive rates…there is need for more outpatient space and in one of these buildings there would be provision for additional outpatient space,” he said.
Construction is expected to span over 42 months with a 60/40 Barbados-Chinese labour ratio on the site.
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