The Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in Suva has suffered decades of under-investment and deferred maintenance.
As a result, much of the existing infrastructure on the campus is at or near the end of life.
This status is impacting the ability of clinical teams at CWM Hospital, and more generally the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), to effectively deliver quality care that responds to the increasing disease burden facing the Fiji population, especially with regard to NCDs.
The ministry’s CWM Hospital Project Priority Infrastructure Plan Report highlights that a list of priority projects has been requested to address infrastructure issues in the short to medium term, allowing for continued medical care delivery while a new or redeveloped hospital is procured.
Priority infrastructure plan (PIP)
The priority infrastructure plan (PIP) contains detailed condition assessments of the hospital campus and the St Giles Psychiatric Hospital campus.
The report highlights that the scope of assessments covered systems and infrastructure relating to architecture, structures, mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, fire and clinical operations.
“These assessments have been used to inform a list of projects required in the short and medium term to enable continued health service provision at both campuses while a new tertiary hospital is designed and built,” the report read.
“These projects were then evaluated using a multi-step screening process, resulting in a final list of prioritised projects with approximate, order-of-magnitude costings (for the highest prioritised projects) that can be presented to the Government and other funding partners for resourcing and delivery.
“The evaluation process emphasises maintenance of the existing level of health care delivery, with improvements in some cases.”
Scope of report
The CWM Hospital redevelopment will be a significant investment for the Government of Fiji (GOF) and an important component of its ambition to provide improved, accessible, effective and efficient health care services for Fijians.
The report said there was also a desire for the facility to become the leading referral hospital for other Pacific Island countries, which would benefit health outcomes across the region.
“In 2024, the Government of Australia, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), agreed to deliver a comprehensive master plan for CWM Hospital, however, it is understood that the process for redeveloping and/or replacing the existing CWM Hospital will, given the size, scale and complexity of a substantial tertiary hospital, take seven to 10 years from the start of master planning until the doors open on a new/redeveloped facility,” the report read.
“In the meantime, while the assessments, consultations and scoping are underway to inform the master planning, it is acknowledged that the existing CWM Hospital campus is grappling with significant and complex challenges relating to the condition of buildings and infrastructure across the site, and that these need urgent and immediate attention to ensure essential tertiary health care services can continue to be safely delivered to the population.”
The report stated that to address this acute need, a separate deliverable had been requested by the Government and commissioned by DFAT (through the Fiji Program Support Facility – FPSF).
“This priority infrastructure plan (PIP) identifies and quantifies urgent projects to be addressed in the near-term in order to maintain quality care at CWM Hospital, and to avoid disruptions to health service delivery.
“Included in this deliverable is St Giles Psychiatric Hospital, located on Reservoir Rd in Suva.
“The St Giles compound, while significantly smaller and less complex than the CWM Hospital campus, suffers many of the same infrastructure challenges.”
The existing CWM Hospital campus
The age of the existing CWM Hospital campus spans over 100 years (the Colonial Wing) to the late 1990s (Extension St and Children’s Hospital).
The report stated all buildings were in poor condition and had variable levels of functioning infrastructure.
$14.5 million assistance
Australia has committed $14.5million to fund infrastructure upgrades at CWM Hospital.
Australian High Commissioner Ewen McDonald made the announcement during the launch of the priority infrastructure plan (PIP) report alongside Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
The PIP Report builds on the CWM Hospital redevelopment master plan launched a year ago and outlines urgent infrastructure needs to ensure continued service delivery.
At the same time, Fiji awaits the construction of a new national hospital.
Mr McDonald explained that the PIP report was a crucial step in addressing CWM’s long-standing challenges, particularly given the time required to develop the new hospital.
He pledged that work on these upgrades would begin immediately, focusing on the projects outlined in the plan.
To support this initiative, Australia will collaborate with the Fijian Government to establish a project management unit within the Ministry of Health to ensure the upgrades are effectively managed and completed.
