University Hospital Address Change

_{Photo: Google Earth image shows the site for the new hospital along the George Price Highway}

The UB campus will no longer have the Belize dollar 90 million university hospital

Belmopan, Friday. August. September 2024

The 90 million Belize dollar tertiary referral hospital funded by a Saudi loan that was to be built on University of Belize (UB) land will no longer be built there. Instead, the Belize government will spend about $6 million to purchase private land for the new site of the hospital. Last week it was revealed that the Ministry of Health and Wellness had lobbied the Cabinet to change the location of the proposed hospital, which would double as a university hospital.

Amandala The Ministry of Health reportedly changed its plans because it believed that the 60-acre land at the University of Belize was not centrally located to more effectively provide medical services to patients in the south and west of the country. Government officials calculated that the land was 9 kilometers from the highway. The Ministry of Health then requested assistance from the Department of Natural Resources to identify available land that could be used for the intended use. However, they were told that all large tracts of land between Guanacaste National Park and Hector Silva Airport were either private land or had been used for other purposes.

The Department of Health subsequently identified two parcels of land (Lot 5624, 7.02 acres; Lot 11214, 7.55 acres, for a total of 14.57 acres) located along the George Price Highway, approximately half a mile from the Hector Silva Airport approach roundabout.

Significantly, our report showed that the owners of the land were all Asian, and they conducted their own valuation, just like the government, and received compensation that was approximately $2 million higher than the government valuation.

When asked about the change of location, Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard said the land fee was arranged by the Ministry of Economic Development. He told Amandala that the land is far from the capital’s sewage tank, which is a concern. In this regard, another government official pointed out that there is a land of houses that have been divided into small plots near the sewage tank. Another concern is flooding, but a government official said, “It is a fairly high land.”

Prime Minister John Briceño said today that they had a long discussion in Cabinet about the matter because “we always wanted the hospital to be right next to the University of Belize… right on the already developed campus. When we went to Cabinet, they told me that the hospital was going to be all the way back there. There was no electricity, no water, and the only way to get there was to build a road as soon as possible.” In the end, the Prime Minister said they accepted the Ministry of Health’s reasoning that current needs require the hospital to be “close to where people already live…” The Prime Minister also noted that the hospital would be closer to infrastructure, specifically the Hector Silva Airport, where the Belize Defense Force Air Wing will soon be relocating.

Prime Minister Briceño insisted that transportation will be more convenient as the hospital will be located along the George Price Highway, adding that the referral hospital will relieve pressure on the Carl Hosner Memorial Hospital by serving the Stan Creek, Toledo and Cayo areas.

When asked whether the procurement was in compliance with the provisions of the Finance and Audit Reform Act (FARA), Prime Minister Briceño said he had nothing to do with the process but was confident that the Department of Health and Wellness followed the correct procedures.

Minister Kevin Bernard reported Thursday that the design work for the hospital is almost complete and hopes to break ground before the end of the year. He said the Ministry of Health’s Policy and Planning Division is working with the University of Belize to ensure that the hospital has all the facilities that a tertiary hospital should have. University of Belize President Dr. Vincent Palacio told the media that he was not happy when he learned that the new teaching hospital would no longer be located on the university campus; however, he said he accepted the government officials’ reasoning and said he was assured that the University of Belize “will still have the authority to be responsible for training at the hospital.” He said that as long as it remains a university hospital, he is satisfied. Notably, Dr. Palacio reported that the National Forensic Science Service will be building a hospital on the University of Belize Belmopan campus, which will also assist their newly established medical school.

The land purchase money reportedly did not come from a loan provided by Saudi Arabia for the hospital.