By: Spokesman Newsroom

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS  (Monday 10th February 2025)-Over 400 workers from all levels, including drain cleaners, played a crucial role in shaping the design of the new Joseph N. France General Hospital. 

This was revealed by Director of Health Institutions in the Ministry of Health Dr. Jenson Morton during the unveiling of the 3D designs plans for the new climate smart health facility on Friday 7th February 2025 at the St.Kitts Marriott Hotel in Frigate Bay.

Dr. Morton highlighted that the research process for the new facility began in September 2022 with a bottom-up approach, ensuring that input was gathered from all categories of hospital staff.

“We decided to start from the bottom up because at this point in time. We weren’t sure if we were going to use the new site or if we were going to stay on our current site. And we went through the task of interviewing hundreds of staff members- over 400 staff members. The reason why we interviewed that many people was we wanted to make sure that every single aspect of the hospital, every type of worker, gave their opinion,” Dr. Morton explained.

He emphasized the importance of consulting all staff, including those responsible for hospital maintenance and infrastructure. 

“You’d be surprised to know what you could learn from everybody. From the person that might be the one clearing the drains, they could tell you exactly which type of drain is good versus bad because they clean it every single day, and I would never know. I’d be dependent on some literature which could be wrong based on our environment or climate. So we spoke with everybody.”

As understood, the feedback collected during the process resulted in over 1,000 unique points, compiled into a 300-page design directives document. 

“That was the amount of things that we had compiled with regards to specifics of the hospital. No stone was left unturned. All aspects of every single ward, every single type, every single thing, electronics, plumbing, parking-everything that one can think of, nothing was left out,” Dr. Morton stated.

He noted that St. Kitts and Nevis has always been a leader in health infrastructure, dating back to 1840 with the Cunningham Hospital and later in 1966 with the construction of the Joseph N. France General Hospital. 

He pointed out that even with challenges following hurricanes of the past, the hospital was rebuilt in 2001 as a state-of-the-art institution. However, new challenges including an increase in chronic diseases and a growing psychiatric population, highlighted the need for further modernization.

“The first would have been an explosion with regards to chronic diseases. That has made the entirety of health outlook and how the type of patients that we have and how we treat them, that changed all of that. We had equally sized, for example, medical and surgical wards, but now the medical ward is always full to capacity just because of the amount of strokes and heart attacks and the amount of people with uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled blood pressure, and the list goes on and on,” he said.

Additionally, the psychiatric ward, originally built for twelve (12) patients in 2001, quickly became overcrowded as the need for mental health services increased. 

“Within six years, our mentally ill population exploded. And what was once to house 12 people with abundant space, we had to find ways to now fit twenty (20) people in the space and do all kinds of alterations to the structure.”

Dr. Morton highlighted that the decision to build a new hospital was guided by Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew’s (Minister with responsibility for Health and Finance) vision of a “Joseph N. France Health Network” rather than just a singular new hospital. He credited the Prime Minister’s medical training in both Cuba and the United States as well as all aspects of training  in the Federation as shaping his approach to healthcare development.

“Even though, for the sake of letting people understand, we just said the new Joseph N. France General Hospital, no, he envisioned a Joseph N. France Health Network in which the new facility which we are building will be an adjunct to the overall health network. The current health structure will have its own role to play in the overall health network.”

Dr. Morton noted that extensive research went into the new hospital’s design, including consultations with health infrastructure experts. Thanks to the support of the OECC (Overseas Engineering and Construction Company)- a Taiwanese construction company , the project team was able to collaborate with international specialists.

 “Experts in space design, experts in energy efficiency, experts in construction engineering… these people, between them, they have built over 200 pieces of health infrastructure on every single continent on planet Earth.”

The final phase of consultations took place in September 2024, ensuring that all stakeholders had an opportunity to contribute. 

The new 128-bed hospital, set to be constructed on a 15-acre site in West Farm, will be a “center of excellence” that meets international accreditation standards.

Dr. Morton stated that proper accreditation would be a key factor in advancing healthcare services. 

“You’d be surprised how many people nowadays, when booking a trip, they might even not consider going to a place unless they see that international stamp of approval from one of these accreditation networks.”