HEALTH Minister Dr Christopher Tufton was advised by contractors Wednesday that the sheer walls of the ground floor of the Spanish Town Hospital will be done over the weekend.

Tufton was on a tour of the construction sites at Spanish Town Hospital and St Jago Park Health Centre on Wednesday.

“The pouring [of concrete for decking] will take approximately one day and once the pour is completed the next step is to build the upper floor. So what they are going to focus on is the ground floor within the next month or so. They are anticipating that by the middle of May we will be getting a crane on site,” said Orette Clarke, programme manager at Health Systems Strengthening Programme, which is overseeing the improvement of health-care infrastructure and services at 13 targeted facilities across the island.

Clarke, who was answering questions posed by Tufton about progress made on the site, said that some adjustments have been made to the project’s completion timeline which is currently being fine-tuned by the contractor and its technical team.

“As communicated in January 2024, the overall project should be completed within 40 months. [That is] 24 months for the construction, eight months for supplying equipment and placing them inside the building, and the remaining months is to operationalise the facility,” Clarke said.

In the meantime, the health minister said that although the pace of the project started slow because of design issues, he is pleased with the progress made by the team.

“There is huge difference between this and Cornwall Regional, and I have to reference Cornwall Regional. This is a greenfield site, meaning we are starting from scratch. There was no need to relocate, except the pharmacy and the lab, and as you can see next door we built a new pharmacy and a new lab.

“We have learnt a lot from the Cornwall Regional experience and so we put a lot of planning in it, led by the team here. Mr Clarke and his team and the contractors so far have complied. From that vantage point we are satisfied. We are comfortable with what is happening,” Tufton said.

The project is set to be completed by the first quarter of 2027.

The Spanish Town Hospital, the island’s largest Type B facility, is undergoing redevelopment valued at approximately $5.5 billion. The project involves constructing a state-of-the-art six-storey building spanning over 17,000 square metres. Once completed, the hospital will offer expanded services, including urology, oncology, cardiology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and psychiatry.

The facility will also feature advanced diagnostic services, multiple operating theatres, and a modern Accident and Emergency wing, all integrated with cutting-edge electronic health record systems.

Simultaneously, the St Jago Park Health Centre is being expanded and refurbished at a cost of approximately $704 million. The project includes constructing a new 634-square-metre building and renovating the existing 1,300-square-metre facility. Upon completion, the centre will provide enhanced services such as dentistry, mental health care, diabetic retinopathy screening, and laboratory services.