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

UB campus will no longer house BZ$90 million university hospital

BELMOPAN, Fri. Aug. 9, 2024

The BZ$90 million Saudi-loan-funded tertiary referral hospital that was to be constructed on University of Belize (UB) land in Belmopan will not go there anymore. Instead, the Government of Belize is expending an estimated $6 million to purchase private land to serve as the hospital’s new location. It surfaced last week that the Ministry of Health and Wellness had lobbied Cabinet for the location of the proposed facility, which is to double as a university hospital, to be changed.

Amandala has learned that the change in plans came about after the Health Ministry considered that the land set aside on the sprawling 60-acre University of Belize property was not centrally located to more efficiently serve as a nexus for patients from the south and west of the country. Government officials calculated that it would be 9 kilometers away from the highway. The Health Ministry subsequently requested assistance from the Ministry of Natural Resources to identify available land that could serve the intended purpose. However, they were told that all sizable properties in the area between Guanacaste National Park and Hector Silva Airstrip were either private land or already taken up for some other purpose.

The Health Ministry then settled on two parcels (parcel 5624 with 7.02 acres and parcel 11214 with 7.55 acres totaling 14.57 acres) which are located along the George Price Highway about half a mile away from the Hector Silva Airstrip heading to the roundabout.

Notably, our reports are that the land had Asian property owners who conducted their own valuation – as did the Government – and they were able to obtain payment of about $2 million above the Government’s valuation.

Asked about the change in location, Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Kevin Bernard said the cost of the land was arranged through the Ministry of Economic Development. He told Amandala that the land is far away from sewage ponds in the capital city, which was a concern raised. In this regard, another government official pointed out that there is a subdivision of houses near the sewage ponds. Another concern was flooding, but one government official stated, “It’s fairly high land.”

Prime Minister John Briceño today said that they had a long discussion in Cabinet over that matter, given that “all along we wanted the hospital to be right beside UB … right there on the campus that’s already developed. It was then told to me when we went to Cabinet that it was going to be all the way to the back. There’s no electricity, no water, just quickly put a road to be able to get there.” In the end, the PM says they accepted the reasoning of the Ministry of Health that the present need requires that the hospital be placed “closer to where people already are …” The PM also pointed out that it will be closer to infrastructure, particularly the Hector Silva Airstrip which will soon see the relocation of the Belize Defence Force Air Wing.

PM Briceño insists that since the hospital will be located along the George Price Highway, it will be easier to access, and added that the referral hospital will ease pressure on the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital by also providing services to the districts of Stann Creek, Toledo and Cayo.

Asked whether the purchase falls under the stipulations of the Finance and Audit Reform Act (FARA), PM Briceño said he had nothing to do with the process, but trusts that the Ministry of Health and Wellness followed proper procedure.

Minister Kevin Bernard reported on Thursday that they are almost finished with the design of the facility, and hope to break ground by the end of this year. He shared that the Ministry’s Policy and Planning Unit is working with the University of Belize to ensure that the facility has everything that a tertiary hospital should have. UB President Dr. Vincent Palacio told the media that he was not happy when he learned that the new teaching hospital would not be located on the University’s compound anymore; however, he says he accepted the reasoning of the Government officials, and says he was assured that UB will “still have authority over training at the hospital.” He remarked that he is satisfied as long as it will still be a university hospital. Notably, Dr. Palacio reported that the National Forensic Science Service is to build a facility on their Belmopan campus, and that should help with their newly launched medical school as well.

The money for the land is reportedly not coming out of the Saudi loan funds for the hospital.