BASSETERRE — Construction on the smart hospital in St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to resume shortly, following a brief pause that allowed engineers to make design changes after a geological feature was identified at the construction site, a senior health official said.
Dr. Jenson Morton, Director of Health Projects and Strategic Initiatives, said the discovery prompted the project team to revise the building’s design in order to strengthen its structural integrity while avoiding a costly construction method.
“So those changes that we had to undertake, it’s going to prevent us from having to number one spend the amount of money we were going to be spending to do things such as pile driving and other things for the sake of giving the building that level of stability for something of that weight,” Morton said.
“And it allows us to achieve that level of structural integrity even in the absence of that, and it also drastically reduces the overall time that it will take to construct,” he added.
According to Morton, the redesign eliminates the need for pile driving, a foundation technique that would have added significant expense and time to the project. He said the changes are instead expected to shorten the overall construction timeline while ensuring the facility can safely support its structural weight.
Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, who also serves as Minister of Health, is expected to provide his own update on the project’s progress in the near future, Morton said.
The smart hospital project has been positioned as a major infrastructure initiative for the federation’s health sector.