GOVERNMENT is seeking private international hospital operators to run the Ba and Lautoka hospitals.

In a statement on Friday night, Government revealed expression of interests (EOI) would be issued to internationally certified hospital operators to work with the State to develop, upgrade, equip and operate the two hospitals in an effort to raise the quality of their health services to meet international standards.

The project headed by the Ministry of Economy, would be funded by the Fiji National Provident Fund and the private hospital operator.

According to the ministry, the International Finance Corporation provided technical expertise to help structure the private public partnership (PPP) project.

Under the terms of the EOI, the private sector hospital operator would provide staff at both hospitals with more modern medical equipment and relevant training as well as operate and maintain the hospitals.

The successful applicant will also be responsible for the construction of a new hospital wing with new modern facilities at the Lautoka divisional hospital and massively upgrade the hospital’s existing health facilities.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the proposed partnership (PP) would offer Fijians a range of new medical services.

He said it would also lead to the launch of a national health insurance scheme.

“We’ve made serious progress over the past decade in increasing life expectancy, improving health outcomes for mothers and children and reducing illness from communicable diseases,” he said.

“But there is much more that can be done to tackle our nation’s biggest health challenges, particularly the burden of non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.

“Through this … project, both the Lautoka and Ba hospitals will offer a range of new specialised treatment options and those specialised services will be available to every Fijian.”

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum emphasised the two hospitals would remain public health facilities under the proposed project and no existing healthcare staff would lose their jobs.

He said six to 12 months after the private sector operator came on board, staff at the two hospitals would be offered the choice to sign new employment contracts with the new operator or continue to work for Government in other public health facilities.

“All of our health workers; our doctors, nurses, pharmacists, radiographers, dietitians and lab technicians, along with all of the allied health workers, have a critical role to play in our agenda for improving the quality of healthcare services in Fiji.

“And in our consultations with health professionals at the Ba and Lautoka hospitals, we’ve been very glad to see that hospital staff share our excitement about this proposed partnership because it will lead to better training, better equipment, and additional staff in both hospitals.

“This … project will give access to new, improved and better quality medical services to ordinary Fijians and empower our healthcare professionals by granting them access to the tools and resources they need to do their jobs well, and we look forward to working with all of our health staff in moving this partnership forward.”