Posted: Friday, November 25, 2016. 3:11 p.m. CST.
By BBN Staff: The SMART Health Care Facilities Project is improving and reconstructing an estimated 50 healthcare facilities in seven Caribbean countries.
The project comes at a cost of US $38.3 million and is supported by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (UK aid).
PAHO’s (Pan American Health Organization) Health Emergencies Department, in partnership with the Ministries of Health, is assessing 600 health centres and hospitals in Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Jamaica, Guyana and Belize.
The facilities are being selected by a team of regional experts under the supervision of Regional Advisor and Project Manager Dr Dana van Alphen, using the SMART Toolkit developed by PAHO to assess structural, non-structural, functional and environmentally sound elements.
PAHO has stated that in Dominica, 4 health facilities have been selected to undergo major improvements designed to make them disaster resilient and environmentally friendly.
PAHO’s representative for the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Godfrey Xuereb said “I am pleased that we have completed the necessary data analysis to determine the priority facilities that will undergo extensive retrofitting to make them smart, that is to say, safer and greener.”
PAHO said Princess Alice Hospital in Grenada has been identified as the showcase facility to be reconstructed.
Four other health facilities have also been approved by the Ministry of Health for retrofitting.
Using the SMART toolkit, all 38 health care facilities on Grenada and Carriacou were assessed.
A total of 16 health facilities in St. Lucia will undergo improvements to make them disaster resilient and environmentally sound. A total of eight “priority health facilities” have been approved for retrofitting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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