If ever there was a time when the people of Anguilla should be proud of the Princess Alexandra Hospital, which has been serving them for many years, it is now when the institution has made a significant leap in its development and service. The full impact of its plausible improvement was realised when an official and guided tour of the hospital was held on Friday, October 2.
The tour followed the provision of some twelve million US dollars by the UK Government for new facilities and equipment at the hospital. The facilities include an impressive Covid-19 treatment building; an high-performance oxygen plant – which saves large sums of money from the purchase of tanks of oxygen from private suppliers in Anguilla and St. Maarten; a new laboratory extension with testing equipment and supplies; and a new store-room building. This over 200 feet by 18 feet structure provides separate ample space for medical and surgical supplies and other items; a fully-equipped morgue with four storage compartments and a post-mortem table – thus eliminating the service and cost of private funeral homes; a 20,000 gallon underground rain-water cistern along with an intake line from the Anguilla Water Corporation. And there is a top floor providing office and overnight accommodation for Emergency Medical Technicians. Other significant improvements at the hospital include new wards for adults and children; and a high capacity electricity generating plant.
The tour of the hospital was led by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Foster Rogers, and the CEO of the Health Authority, Mrs. Maeza Demis-Adams. The touring party included Governor Tim Foy, OBE, Premier Dr. Ellis Webster, Minister of Health; Head of the UK-funded Anguilla Programme, Mr. Darren Forbes-Batey, MBE; Building Contractor, Mr. Cleve Richards, and Mr. Anthony Gardiner of WYG, the supervisory British firm working with the UK-funded Anguilla Programme.
The development work at Princess Alexandra Hospital began after the destruction caused by Hurricane Irma, in September 2017, and continued with an expanded UK assistance funding programme following Covid-19.
The Anguillian newspaper, which was also on the tour, asked Governor Foy for his comments. “My thoughts go back to Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017,” he stated. “I remember thinking that the last place that should fall down in the hurricane should be the hospital. But, in our case, it was the first place. A lot of work has been done and I am very, very grateful to the quality team within the Health Authority of Anguilla; and, above all, to our contractors. They really delivered with speed and the buildings are of exemplary quality. The buildings will not be going anywhere the next time we get a hurricane (please God don’t allow it). It is such a great satisfaction because it is what Anguillians have done for themselves. I am just delighted to see their work.”
Premier Dr. Webster commented: “It is a pleasure to be here to see the upgrades that are being done at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The section of the lab, especially, has been a long time in coming and is necessary. We thank the British Government for the funding for the Anguilla Programme after Hurricane Irma. The new section of the lab will cater for increased capacity testing for Covid-19. That is essential as we put in the PCR platform. There is also a lab technician coming from England to help us out. When she gets here, she will go into quarantine and then be available to assist with the PCR testing.
“As we go to the reopening phase of Anguilla, for tourism, we will need the increased Covid-19 testing capacity. So it is good to see that the lab is just about ready – with the finishing touches now being done. Other work is being done at the hospital and we appreciate that – because the goal is to make sure that we have health access in Anguilla centred on prevention. It is cheaper to take care of persons before, or in the early stages of disease, than to treat them afterwards. These are among the things that we are pushing forward for to make sure that the hospital can cater for our ageing population – and that we can add services as we go along.”
Mrs. Demis-Adams, the CEO of the Health Authority, was particularly delighted with the progress at the hospital. “About two years ago we started this process with a business case and a dream,” she recalled. “Now, two years later, we are nearly at the end of our journey. I am feeling overwhelmed and excited. I am proud of the work that we have done over the last couple of months.
“Our ability to expand our laboratory facilities gives us the opportunity to re-start our economy so this is a big deal for us. We are proud of the work that has and will occur in our new expanded lab. As you can see, the space in the micro-biology area is a vast improvement to what we had. So I am very proud and grateful to the UK Government for all of their assistance.”
Mr. Foster Rogers did an excellent job in explaining all the new facilities at the hospital – and stressed the Anguilla Government’s gratitude to the UK Government.
He also took the opportunity to thank the Anguillian contractors, and other workers, for their painstaking and dedicated work. He said they had saved the Government a great deal of money by not bringing in skilled persons from outside the island. He paid special tribute to Cheddie Richardson who beautifully and professionally installed the floor-covering of the hospital.
Persons in Anguilla, wishing to tour the new facilities at the hospital, can arrange to do so by contacting the appropriate personnel at the Health Authority.
Meanwhile, apart from the major improvements at the hospital, the new Valley Polyclinic, described as the Heart-beat of Anguilla’s Primary Healthcare Services,” is well under construction at a cost of some five million US dollars. The construction of the Western Polyclinic at South Hill is virtually completed. Both projects are also being funded by the UK Government’s Anguilla Programme.
Mr. Cleve Richards was the Contractor for the Storage Building, the Oxygen Plant and the Laboratory Extension at the hospital. He is the owner of Richards Architecture, Development and Survey Company. “We are a company that cover all aspects of property development,” he explained. “We do land surveys and sales, property appraisals, construction cost estimates, architectural drawings and building construction.”
Mr. Richards said he was happy to have been one of the local contractors and thanked his workers, as well as the others, for their patriotic and diligent service.
