THE $14million allocated for the CWM Hospital master plan is being used across several stages of planning and priority infrastructure upgrades, with the Ministry of Health now moving towards a feasibility study and business case for a new national referral hospital.
Ministry of Health and Medical Services acting permanent secretary Dr Luisa Cikamatana told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence that the $14m formed part of the master planning process rather than being the cost of constructing a new hospital.
“The $14million is part of the master plan, the development of the master plan,” she said.
Dr Cikamatana said the first stage involved developing a clinical service plan for CWM Hospital, followed by a priority infrastructure plan identifying the hospital’s most urgent upgrade needs.
“Then they came up with the priority infrastructure plan. So that identified what all priority infrastructure upgrades were needed.”
She said available funding was then directed towards the most urgent works, with some upgrades carrying significant costs.
“It’s very expensive to change that roof.”
She said the master plan process had now reached the stages involving a feasibility study and business case for a new national referral hospital.
“The next one was supposed to be the feasibility study and also the business case for the new referral hospital.”
Dr Cikamatana said the ministry was now at the fourth and fifth stages of the process — the development of the master plan itself.
The clarification came as Fiji considers how proposed health infrastructure commitments under the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union and Ocean of Peace Alliance (Veitacini Treaty) could complement the country’s existing plans for strengthening its health system.
