Minister of Health & Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, officially commissioned the Orthopaedic Clinic and Wound Care Services areas at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) as part of a brief ceremony Monday July 4th, 2022. The newly relocated and upgraded service areas were officially handed over to the hospital by contractor Inline Construction Company and will resume clinical services providing care for the hospital’s outpatients.

The improvement works are part of the initial phase of the Urgent & Emergency Care Project, a joint initiative between the Ministry of Health & Wellness and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) which broke ground in 2019. UECP’s objective is to enhance Urgent Care and Emergency Care services in New Providence and encompasses improvements works at PMH and public health clinics on the island.

Minister Darville officially cut the ribbon on the upgraded areas sharing, “The areas being blessed by PMH Chaplain Cannon, Rev Sebastian Campbell this afternoon, and commissioned to return to operative status includes a dedicated space for Orthopaedic Clinic Services outside of the main Emergency Department footprint, and a new home for Wound Care clinic services.”

The Minister provided context for the upgrades at PMH, listing them among several significant health infrastructure initiatives currently underway or forthcoming by the Ministry of Health & Wellness at PMH and clinics around New Providence. “At the Princess Margaret Hospital, the second phase, where some additional spaces are needed in order for us to improve the quality of healthcare delivery systems for our patients. That is expected to be completed at the end of the year.” Also

referenced by the Minister were improvement works to the Elizabeth Estates Clinic, the South Beach Health Centre, and the Blue Hills Clinic.

PHA Managing Director, Mrs. Aubynette Rolle, spoke to the significance of the project and the importance of upgrading hospital infrastructure and services without disrupting normal operations. “The journey from ground-breaking on this project in 2019 to today’s blessing and commissioning has not been an easy one. Any major capital project in an institution as complex, as aged, as busy as the Princess Margaret Hospital is a very difficult undertaking. When we consider that any such undertaking must be accomplished with an absolute minimum of disruption to the hospital’s operations, services, patients, and staff, then what is a difficult undertaking becomes a herculean feat of planning, coordination, and creative problem-solving.”

She noted, “We are grateful to Inline Construction and TDG for all their efforts in collaborating with us to minimize disruptions to both the Emergency Department and the hospital over the course of the project thus far.”