So the Health Services Authority (HSA)
is about to begin a major multi-million dollar capital project to
upgrade the George Town hospital.

However, don't except any frills to be
added to the interior or exterior structures that will be apparent to
the naked eye when you visit the hospital.

What you will immediately be aware of
is some very heavy equipment onsite.

The first phase will start with the
replacement of the air-conditioning and chiller system.

HSA Board Chairman, Jonathan Tibbetts,
said the chillers would be modern-state-of-the-art.

He said, “We are confident that the
HSA has some of the best clinical staff in healthcare, but the
delivery of healthcare requires a modern and sustainable
infrastructure that provides a welcoming environment to our patients
as well as equipment and technology that optimizes diagnosis, patient
care and clinical outcomes.

“Our investments in capital
improvements are all about providing the best experience for all
patients at all HSA facilities. One of those initiatives is the
modernisation of our existing chiller or cooling system.”

These new chillers, we are informed,
will be more energy efficient, have lower operating and maintenance
costs with the capacity to accommodate the hospital’s growing
footprint.

This work will commence on 16 November
and is estimated to take three years.

How many of you are betting this will
take longer?

Otis Air won the contract following an
open tender.

Service manager and project leader for
the programme is a lady, Shannon Richards. She said the new chillers
will not only be able to provide “smoother temperature control not
possible with the original chillers”, but be more environmentally
friendly than the old system.

That's good. I'm very pleased the HSA
is now doing it's part along with the local bars with their paper
straws, to help reduce global warming. The lady said this was a key
factor.

And Rolston Anglin who is chairman of
the board’s Infrastructure Subcommittee weighed in with his
contribution. He said words to the effect that the major multi-year
modernisation programme will include the transformation of patient
rooms, expansion of the Accident & Emergency Department. This
will improve patient flow and reduce waiting times.

How? It's a fact of life doctors keep
us waiting. How about modernising them?

As for the frills …. “significant
changes being planned to improve access and services at the HSA”.

We will have to wait for more details
of all these “improvement initiatives.”

So how f[th]rilled are you with the
expectant chills?