The 30-year-old referral hospital is undergoing a major infrastructure upgrade expected to cost some $20 million with an aim to make it more efficient and effective, officials said.
The first phase of the upgrade activities at the King Faisal Hospital that was due to be completed in June has been pushed to late this year, The New Times has established.
The 30-year-old referral hospital is undergoing a major infrastructure upgrade expected to cost some $20 million with an aim to make it more efficient and effective, officials said.
The deadline to complete the hospital upgrade has been delayed by circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic where, since Rwanda recorded the first coronavirus case in March, everything came to a halt.
Dr Edgar Kalimba, the hospital’s Deputy CEO, told The New Times that the construction activities could not be completed in June as planned as a result of the pandemic.
"Because of the pandemic, we could not get the workers on the site and supply of construction materials across the border came to a halt. And now we have revised our dates. We hope to complete the activities to later this year,” he said
"Yes, the construction sector was among activities given greenlight to resume activities but the borders are still closed. We are not in control of the ports at the cost where imported materials are received. So there are still a lot of challenges,” He explained.
King Faisal Hospital deputy chief executive, Dr Edgar Kalimba, during an interview last week. Photo: Dan Nsengiyumva.
The first phase of the hospital construction includes many components including the outpatient block that will have 45 consultation rooms, a corporate/premium service clinic and an electric substation that matches the hospital’s big plan to build a campus that will soon be regarded as ‘the regional referral centre’.
Safety ramps are also being put in the new block where beds or wheelchairs can pass from to floor to another floor.
Some renovation works are also underway on the hospital’s main bloc as part of the first phase.
Kalimba said the plan to complete the construction activities within six months was actually based on 24 hours of operation on the site where workers would work on day and night shifts, but workers were forced to work on one shift so as to abide with curfew guidelines
The pandemic also forced the contractor, Power China, to cut down the team to maintain social distancing between workers at the site.
The referral hospital is undergoing a major infrastructure upgrade expected to cost some $20 million
The site lacks finishing and furnishing materials that are mostly being imported from China, an issue the hospital has experienced for months because China was dealing with the pandemic from early the beginning of the year where factories were closed as a result.
"The construction resumed during the lockdown but at a much slower pace. So you can’t have people working at night when you don’t have materials. And, even now, getting materials imported on time is still a challenge,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Kalimba said the first phase is picking up and hopes all missing materials will have been availed on the site before the end of this month [August].
The first phase of the hospital construction includes many components including the outpatient block that will have 45 consultation rooms
He said, however, delay in completing the first phase of the construction at the hospital could result in pushing the next phase to begin at a later date than earlier planned.
He revealed the hospital management, the board of directors and the government of Rwanda are also reviewing the possibility of extending or keeping the construction timeline for the next phases.
"We are reviewing our plans in terms of the development plan, as well as the timelines. A lot of discussions are ongoing at the moment,” he said.