$365 Million set Aside to Continue Work on Western Children Hospital
By: , February 23, 2023The Full Story
The Government has earmarked $365 million to continue work on the construction of the Western Children and Adolescent Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James, during the new financial year.
Details are outlined in the 2023/2024 Estimates of Expenditure, which was recently tabled in the House of Representatives.
The project is aimed at building a 220-bed facility on the compound of the Cornwall Regional Hospital to provide medical services for children and adolescents up to 18 years across western Jamaica.
Construction activities up to the end of December 2022 included site clearance, resurfacing and widening of the road leading to the construction site, completion of utility relocation and reconnection and security services, and 20 per cent completion of the construction of the institution.
In addition, phase-one parking was completed, while the phase-two parking facility was at 97 per cent.
Among the targets for the upcoming financial year are completion of phase two parking and upgrade and completion of the sewage system and other works.
The Western Children Adolescent Hospital will be the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.
It is being funded by the Governments of Jamaica and the People’s Republic of China.
Work under the project commenced in 2017.