The commissioning of the new St Jude Hospital at Augier is continuing, with dialysis services set to become the latest department to begin operations as the government moves through what it describes as a carefully managed transition to full activation.
Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste provided an update on the project during Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, saying several key departments are already operating while additional services will be introduced as technical and safety requirements are met.
“Firstly, the commissioning of the St Jude Hospital is advancing,” Jn Baptiste said. “Already, physiotherapy, kitchen, food services and laundry are open and operating full-time. These services support rehabilitation, food service, clean linen management and daily hospital routines.”
He announced that dialysis services would be the next department to be commissioned at the new facility.
“I am pleased to report to you that another department, Dialysis Services, will be commissioned tomorrow at the new hospital site at Augier,” the minister said.
Jn Baptiste commended the commissioning team and hospital staff, noting that many employees had sacrificed their weekend to prepare the department for operation.
“Thanks to the commissioning team, the hospital staff and all who continue to assist with this process, a number of hospital workers gave up their weekend to ensure that this process came to fruition,” he said. “I want to thank them. I want to thank all the professionals who spend their weekend at the St. Jude Hospital site at Augier.”
He added that work was continuing to ensure dialysis services begin this week.
“Work continues today to commence dialysis this week,” he said.
The minister stressed that the project has progressed beyond the construction phase and is now focused on safely bringing services online.
“We have said before, the St. Jude Hospital project has moved from construction and general preparation into a managed commissioning process,” Jn Baptiste said. “The project is advancing and has always been the government’s objective to have full hospital activation when the critical safety, staffing, equipment and operational requirements are completed.”
He said the government’s priority is to ensure patients receive care in a safe and fully functional environment.
“Our aim is to give the people of Saint Lucia the best and safest hospital environment,” he said.
Jn Baptiste explained that the commissioning process includes meeting fire and life safety requirements, ensuring the readiness of dialysis services, testing critical building systems such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning and medical gases, and putting in place the necessary staffing, equipment and digital infrastructure.
“We need approximately 721 staff. Right now we have 471 and over time new staff will be deployed at the hospital,” he said.
The minister also acknowledged the role of the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards and the Regulated Substances Authority in supporting the certification and safety processes, particularly in relation to laboratory systems, information and communications technology, and radiology services.
“In other words, we are very optimistic about the continuation of the commissioning of the Saint Jude Hospital at Augier,” he said.
While previous government updates had pointed to July as the target period for commissioning, Jn Baptiste acknowledged that the full transition would extend beyond the month.
“Many times when we spoke about the commissioning of the Saint Jude Hospital, we spoke generally about a timeline of July. We are coming to the end of July, and we have not completely transitioned the hospital,” he said.
Despite the delay, he said the commissioning team is continuing its work with patient safety as the overriding priority.
“I am pleased to report that we are moving, and the commissioning team will obviously require a few more weeks, but they are working feverishly and safely to ensure that we cause there to be a safe environment at the Saint Jude Hospital and we are very pleased that dialysis, a new department dialysis will move this week. In fact, the commissioning begins tomorrow,” Jn Baptiste said.