THE University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) will be getting two new operating theatres and an eight-bed intensive care unit under a $135-million expansion plan that was announced yesterday.

“The hospital’s expansion in these areas is both practical and strategic,” said Colin Steele, chairman of the hospital’s board of management. “In recent years, there has been significant increase in the demand for specialised neurosurgery and cardiac surgery. The complexities of these procedures and their time demands have put a severe strain on the hospital,” he told journalists inside the hospital’s boardroom.

According to Steele, from July 2001 to the present, the UHWI had received 331 referrals for neurosurgery operations and another 250 for open heart surgery.

“…two hundred and eighty-nine of these (neurosurgery operations) were performed…. but there are 42 patients on the waiting list, 25 of whom have brain tumours… When the expansion is complete, we should be able to clear this backlog,” said Steele.

“Every year, cardiothoracic receives around 250 referrals for open-heart surgery, but can only perform 50-75 operations annually. That is because all open-heart surgery patients must have an intensive care bed to go to for recovery.

“The waiting list is currently over 100 patients… this expansion should allow us to perform at least 200 cardiothoracic operations a year. At that rate, we will be able to clear our waiting list in a reasonable time frame,” he said.

The main elements of the proposed project are:

* a 3,260 sq feet operating room equipped to conduct cardiothoracic and neurosurgical procedures;

* another operating room of the same dimension as above and equipped for emergency surgical procedures; and

* a new 6,685 square feet intensive care unit for cardiothoracic and neuro-surgical patients consisting of eight screened rooms with patients visible from a centrally located nurses station.

The approximate construction cost of the project is $85 million, while equipment will cost $50 million. Construction is set to begin in March 2003. The UHWI will provide $50 million for the equipment, the UHWI’s privately-run Tony Thwaites wing will donate another $35 million, and the remaining $50 million will be sourced from private and public sector organisations.

“We have approached 100 local companies so far and some have agreed to commit,” said R Danny Williams, chairman of the fund-raising committee. “We have secured $20 million of the outstanding $50 million so far and hope to have all of the money committed by March when we will have the ground-breaking ceremony.”

The UHWI admits about 18,000 patients each year and treats 160,000 outpatients in clinics. Health Minister John Junor officially launched the project.