By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

WHILE a Public Hospitals Authority official said the new Critical Care Block at the Princess Margaret Hospital is planned for commissioning on January 8, there is still no firm date set for when the multi-million dollar facility will be fully operational.

According to PHA Chairman Frank Smith yesterday, staffing the Critical Care Block with medical health care professionals continues to pose the biggest challenge.

Mr Smith was asked if the facility would be fully functional following the commissioning ceremony early in the new year. He said he could not say specifically, pointing to a countrywide nursing shortage.

Initially officials said the Critical Care Block would cost taxpayers $55m and with a 20-month timeline for completion in 2011. However, it was later reported that the overall cost will be around $100m.

“There is a certain staff complement that we would need to reach,” Mr Smith said. “All of the equipment is in place and I am told that they are working around the clock to ensure that everything is installed and tested by the commissioning date. Some of the equipment has been in place for a while and some of it recently arrived.

“But there are staff sourcing issues. You would note that we do have a nurse shortage in the country. For example let’s say that we have 50 doctors then we would need 100 nurses. So as I explained before, there is a certain complement we need before we can move to the next level.”

The 66,000sq ft facility houses 20 private ICU rooms, 18 recovery beds, a central sterile department, new lab facilities, administrative facilities and a new main entrance, which is disability friendly.

A number of challenges have plagued the Critical Care Block project, which began during the last Ingraham administration in November 2011 and has faced several delays under the Christie administration, which assumed office in May 2012.

Construction of the facility was to have ended in June 2013, but work was still required some 15 months later.

In July, PHA officials said that initial attempts at obtaining a $35m loan from First Caribbean Bank, needed for funding the purchase of important medical equipment, had become “problematic”.

However, last month Managing Director of the PHA Herbert Brown told Tribune Business that the PHA had since approved the loan for the procurement of the needed materials in addition to management information systems.

He added that the PHA was “very advanced” in its progress to open the facility.

It was speculated that a multi-million dollar dispute with Cavalier Construction, the company responsible for constructing the Critical Care Block, caused the delays.

But Cavalier’s Managing Director Richard Wilson placed the blame on constant design changes – especially in the mechanical and electrical areas.