Construction on the $14 million mini-hospital in Exuma is nearly 25 percent complete, Guardian Business can confirm.
In April, The National Insurance Board and Reef Construction Company Ltd. signed a contract for the construction of the community hospital. At that time, construction was estimated to take approximately 60 weeks.
Vernon Wells, owner of Reef Construction, shared with Guardian Business that the project is on time and on budget.
He is hoping that the mini-hospital will be completed by next June, as outlined in the contract.
"As it stands now, we are still on time and on budget. We are shooting for next June. That's our contract date. If we can get it done before, we would love for that to happen but we are confident that it can be done in time," he explained. "We have been on-site since late April and we have just been put on the first section of roofing and sheeting on the western side. So we are moving along pretty good, despite the challenges we are having with the labor force. It's been difficult but we have been able to make reasonable progress."
However, Wells noted that the most challenging part of the construction process has been finding skilled labor in Exuma to assist with the project, as building a hospital requires intense detail work.
"At this point, the labor force has been a bit weak. Building a hospital is a little bit more intense as far as detail work is concerned on the inside. The shell of the building is not difficult, that's always the easiest part to put up. It's finishing the inside work that takes the time. Hopefully, we will get to that part in another couple of months," he said.
Reef Construction's chief confirmed to Guardian Business that anywhere from 60 to 75 people have been working on the project so far on any given day. To date, Wells pointed out that approximately 20 percent of the funds have been spent on the hospital's construction.
The 30,000 square foot mini hospital will be outfitted with 10 beds, an operating table, a dental facility, physiotherapy, a morgue and an emergency and trauma area.
"I think the Exumians should be quite proud of it when it's finished. I am really anxious to get it done but Exuma right now only has a clinic which is very limited in its offerings," Wells added.
The island's chief councilor Godfrey Gray recently told Guardian Business that Exuma is in desperate need of better facilities that reflect the modern development that is being experienced on that island, as the current healthcare facilities are extremely inadequate.

"The upgrades are urgently needed because we have been without proper facilities for a very long time. The medical facilities are extremely inadequate, especially when you consider the type of resorts that we have on the island like Sandals," Gray said.

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