THE lift outage at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital involves ageing infrastructure in the East wing, not the newly-installed lifts, Minister for Health Dr Atonio Lalabalavu clarified amid rising public concern.
“Let me be very clear, the three new lifts and the fourth one being currently completed is in the West wing,” he said.
“The two lifts being discussed are the old lifts in the East wing.”
Staff and patients at the CWM Hospital are now benefiting from three newly operational lifts, commissioned last week as construction progresses on a fourth lift.
He said plans and mitigation measures for disruptions during the installation of the new lifts were already outlined in the ministry’s earlier statement.
“Plans and mitigation measures for the disruption due to the new lift’s being installed is part of the media statement by the ministry.”
In an earlier statement, the ministry stated the East wing lift was out of service due to a mechanical fault.
It said repairs were underway and contingency plans activated to maintain patient care, including for ICU and upper-floor wards.
The latest outage has renewed scrutiny over infrastructure reliability at the country’s main referral hospital, which continues to face pressure from ageing facilities and increasing patient demand.
