Where Will Belize’s University Hospital Be Built?

For months, key stakeholders involved in the forty-five-million-dollar University Hospital project have left the question of its construction site unanswered. Originally, the hospital was intended to be built on the University of Belize grounds to manage operations for the institution. However, government officials ultimately rejected that location. Today, Minister of Health and Wellness Kevin Bernard provided an update, announcing that a new site has been selected.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister, MOHW

“I would not be able to speak on the cost of the land. That is, that is something that is, um, to the Ministry of Economic Development because that’s the way the decision for that was done. However, there was other challenges, the location of accessibility. Remember, it’s not only a teaching hospital, it’s going to be a tertiary facility where you need to have immediate access and so, they felt after the ministry and other technical team looked at it, they felt that they needed to be at a different location that is more accessible. But it will continue to serve, as Dean Johnson mentioned, not just the tertiary teaching hospital, but we also want to try and look at how we could implement  our regional facilities to also become some level of teaching facilities where people can go in and learn clinical  works and so forth. So, but yes, the decision was made to build a hospital at a different location. We are almost finished with the designs now, and I am hoping that we can break ground on that new facility by the end of this year.”

 

Reporter

“I know you said it’s the Ministry of Economic Development, they made a decision. But do you feel like that money that went into sourcing this land will take away from maybe the quality of the facility that’s being built since that money could have been used in the facility?”

 

Kevin Bernard

“No, that is totally separate from what the investment from the Saudis will be. I mean, the, the Saudis has committed to sixty thousand dollars…six, I don’t remember, I think it’s sixty thousand U.S. dollars. But at the end of the day, we have to make sure that.  Six million. I believe it is. Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m confusing the numbers, but we have to make sure that there’s no change in the scope of that. That’s why there’s proper planning being done in terms of our policy unit or planning unit working closely with the university. We’re working closely with the hospital designs that are there to ensure that all the services that we a tertiary facility should have will be had will be there whether the land was purchased or so does not take away from what the construction of that facility will have when it’s over, when it’s finished.”