THE transformed Ba Hospital has a newly installed computed tomography (CT) scan machine and is the only one available at a public hospital in Fiji.

Officiating at the commissioning of the hospital yesterday, Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu said it was previously a limited primary care facility that now featured modern infrastructure.

“Including a state-of-the-art surgical operating theatre and comprehensive inpatient services, following an international building commissioning program to ensure services meet international standards,” Dr Lalabalavu said.

“The new 70-bed Ba Hospital now has two operating theatres, a fully operational CT scan machine, a medical laboratory that can conduct a wide range of tests in biochemistry, haematology, serology, microbiology, and blood banking capability, and a new 20-berth mortuary.”

Dr Lalabalavu said the hospital had implemented a quality and patient safety department to drive clinical improvements.

“And ensure ongoing patient safety and an electronic management system for both radiology and laboratory services.

“In addition to its outpatient services, the expanded capacity has allowed the hospital to provide surgical operations and post-operative care, reduce the average patient length of stay in the hospital to less than 4 days, and ensure patients in need of ongoing medical attention receive the highest standard of care from dedicated healthcare professionals.”

Dr Lalabalavu added both the Ba and Lautoka hospitals were on track for international accreditation under the world-renowned US-based Joint Commission Internal or JCI program.