Interested persons can apply for and purchase the tender document package for the new facility from the Public Tenders Committee in the Ministry of Finance. The package includes tendering instructions, specifications and the architectural drawings.

Minister for Health and Social Development Ronnie Skelton said he is anxious to see the new hospital started. “This new hospital was Government’s promise to the people and I intend to do what I can to see that this promise is fulfilled,” he said.

The new 150,000 square foot, six-storey facility is to be built on the excavated property directly behind the existing hospital.

The new designs, which were completed by the Dallas architectural firm PageSoutherlandPage (PSP), include all the amenities of the designs proposed originally but at a reduced construction cost.

Government revisited the original designs for the previously planned hospital with a view to reducing construction and operational cost while increasing function and practicality.

Minister Skelton noted his satisfaction with the new drawings. “We asked PSP to go back to the drawing board and create something that better fits the needs of the BVI both space and cost-wise, and they did just that,” he said

“We now have a design that is less costly to build, less costly to cool, and less costly to outfit than the original design. We also have a bonus -- more room for future growth and development,” he added.

The facility will have three standard-size operating theatres, at least two nursing stations to support each of the major hospital wards, three labour and delivery rooms, a physiotherapy wing, a chapel, cafeteria and gift shop.

The overall construction cost is estimated at $40.5 million, $19.5 million less than that of the original design.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development, under which this initiative falls, serves as the focal point for leadership, legislation and policy direction in all operations relating to health and social development, promoting the physical, mental and social health of all persons in the Territory.