After years of delays and controversy, the Government on Sunday formally received the reconstructed St Jude Hospital, though the facility is not yet ready to accept patients.
The official handover ceremony, attended by government ministers, technocrats, hospital staff, contractors and community supporters, marked the completion of reconstruction works and the beginning of the hospital’s transition towards full operational readiness.
Permanent Secretary in the Department of Economic Development, Paul Hilaire, outlined the scope of the upgraded facility, saying it featured “modern diagnostic capacity, a safer patient environment, energy-efficient systems and improved clinical workflow—all built to serve generations to come.”
He stressed that the handover did not signal immediate opening, but the start of the critical final phase: “With this handover, our task now turns to the phase of operational readiness, commissioning, equipping, staffing and regulatory alignment, ensuring that this hospital can open its doors safely and efficiently.”
Hilaire confirmed that the Ministry of Health, supported by his department, is fully engaged in completing this transition. Five departments have already been commissioned and are now moving through the transition phase, including:
– The Administrative Centre (corporate services, accounting, staffing, records management)
– Laundry and Kitchen, which he described as “one of the most advanced” in the country
– Physiotherapy
– Dialysis
During his address, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre stressed that the reconstruction process was guided by technical advice.
“The decisions that we made were not based on politics; these decisions were made on the facts that were given to us. And even though two buildings were demolished, we still believed we could have worked with what we had,” he said.
“Today did not come along easily. It came along with doubt, with questioning the wisdom behind the decisions we made… but this is the result,” Pierre said, acknowledging the years of public uncertainty after St Jude Hospital staff were forced to operate from the George Odlum Stadium for 15 years following the fire that destroyed the original facility.
Reflecting on the challenges that marked the hospital’s reconstruction, including during his last tenure as prime minister from 2012 to 2016, outgoing Vieux Fort South MP Kenny Anthony, who recently retired from politics, said: “An anguish has been brought to an end, and now we can look forward to the future with greater confidence.”
