No corruption involved in $21b CRH restoration, says Tufton

WESTERN BUREAU:

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is rubbishing suggestions that corruption is at the heart of the ballooning cost of the ongoing restoration work at the St James-based Cornwall Regional Hospital [CRH], which currently stands at some $21.4 billion and is slated for completion by 2026.

Addressing the media during his latest visit to the CRH on Thursday, Tufton argued that the accusations of corruption are unfounded since only $3.5 billion of the budgeted amount has been spent on the project to date.

“This talk about $21 billion, I know I’m on it as a stuck record because I think it is a false narrative that is potentially harmful to something that is good. The money hasn’t been spent yet. We have spent $3.5 billion on the project, and we’re estimating just over $5 billion this year based on all I have outlined here … when you put $21 billion and corruption in the same sentence, it doesn’t equate,” said Tufton.

“Not only is it incorrect, the fact is that the money hasn’t been spent, so you can’t even assume that allegation. It’s just ridiculous. We are travelling, and we’ll get where we need to go over time, and along the way you’re going to see how the resources are spent and the utility you will get back, the value for those resources,” Tufton argued.

Initial budget

Concerns have arisen in recent months about the perpetually increasing cost of the CRH’s restoration, which is more than 10 times the initial budget of $2 billion, which was originally estimated in March 2018.

The current figure was revealed in budget documents released by the Government in February this year, up from its previous estimate of $14.6 billion.

Last September, the Opposition People’s National Party called for Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis to conduct a special audit of the CRH’s rehabilitation project back when its budget was at the $14-billion mark.

But Tufton told Thursday’s press conference that while frustration at the slow pace of the hospital’s restoration is understandable, ascribing corruption to the project’s price tag is unfounded.

“You can argue about the pace, and I think it’s fair for people to be impatient about the pace, and we have given reasons, but I think it’s really unfortunate to argue about $21 billion and talking about corruption. It doesn’t make sense because we haven’t spent more than three and a half billion so far and counting,” said Tufton.

The CRH’s restoration work was sparked by an incident in 2017 when the first three floors of the 10-floor Type A facility had to be evacuated due to noxious fumes, following a similar incident in 2016 when the accident and emergency ward had to be evacuated.

Investigations by the Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organisation subsequently revealed that fibreglass particles from the ventilation system were the cause of the fumes.

At present, a team representing the CRH has been dispatched to China over a two and a half week period to assess equipment that is expected to be placed in the building upon completion of the work now ongoing in its inner sections.

Vivian Gordon, the project manager in charge of the CRH restoration work, told Thursday’s briefing that the completed inner layout of the building will depend on the equipment that will be brought in to occupy its required spaces.

“One of the things that must be known about hospital design is that the layout, the functional approach to designing a hospital, in most instances, is led by the equipment. The spaces that the equipment goes in, once you know the equipment that has to go in there, the spaces have to be designed around the equipment, how they are used, the electrical requirements, the heating and cooling requirements, the ventilation requirements. All of these things have to be known based on the equipment,” Gordon explained.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com