Minister of Health Horace Dalley (second right) in discussion with (from left): Doctors Beverly Wright, Carl Bruce and Marion Bullock-Ducasse, during a tour of the Falmouth Hospital, in Trelawny, yesterday. Mr. Dalley said improvements to the hospital have faced some delays but that the new Accident and Emergency Unit is 95 per cent complete and will be available for use during the ICC Cricket World Cup. - Claudine Housen/Staff photographer

Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter

WESTERN BUREAU:

Essential services at the Falmouth Hospital are ready and will be available for use during the hosting of the ICC Cricket World Cup this month, health officials say.

Speaking in an interview following a tour of the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium yesterday, Health Minister Horace Dalley, said the hospital was equipped to handle all eventualities during the cricket season.

"Essential services for cricket will be in place. The hospital will be in use and other arrangements are being made," he said. "Nothing will suffer for cricket. Dr. Marion Bullock-Ducasse (medical director for Cricket World Cup) is in full control and has made adequate arrangements."

He added: "The accident and emergency unit (A&E) is 95 per cent complete and I have told them (the contractors) that all three sections should be handed over to me by March 16. One section - the new operating theatre and diagnostic centre - will not be ready until April."

Noticeably behind

Conceding that the project is noticeably behind its original Cricket World Cup schedule, the minister said the delay was due to an expansion in the scope of the project.

Under the new project, the Health Ministry will now be spending some $320 million, instead of the previously budgeted $170 million.

"(The increase) is not through overruns," he explained. "We have deliberately changed the scope of the work and we are spending now in the region of $320 million and when we finish, about $350 million will be spent."

Pointing out that the system is "basically brand new", Mr. Dalley explained that, on completion, the facility will triple the capacity of the previous A&E department.

claudine.housen@gleaner jm.com