Six buildings at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital are classified as “structurally unsafe and below World Health Organization standards, and need to be demolished or reconstructed,” while seven are “structurally safe but need immediate repairs.”
These conclusions were the result of an engineering assessment conducted in 2019 and revealed in Expression of Interest (EOI) documents released by consulting and engineering services company RPS Group, which has been contracted for master planning services for CWM Hospital. This project is sponsored by the Government of Australia under its Fiji Program Support Facility (FPSF).
RPS Group, a division of Tetra Tech International Development Pty Ltd, is currently contracted by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to manage the FPSF.
The EOI invitation, dated April 2, 2024, provided a detailed perspective on the deteriorating condition of Fiji’s largest and most crucial healthcare facility, noting that no major repairs have been undertaken since the 2019 engineering assessment.
The CWM Hospital is Fiji’s largest and main referral hospital, located in the capital Suva. The hospital encompasses 14 buildings, housing 535 beds, 31 wards, and 8 operating theatres.
In 2022, CWM Hospital managed 26,118 admissions, 6,771 births, and 316,446 outpatient visits. However, these figures are likely underreported.
The engineering assessments of 2019 found that out of the 14 building sets, six are “structurally unsafe and below World Health Organization standards, needing demolition or reconstruction,” and seven are “structurally safe but need immediate repairs.”
The World Bank’s aide memoire from October 2023 noted that many construction materials are deteriorating due to factors like natural hazards, including tropical cyclones, humidity, droughts, and seismic activity. The older buildings suffer from inconsistent maintenance, affecting healthcare service delivery and operational efficiency.
For the past two decades, CWM Hospital has operated without a comprehensive Master Plan or a national or central division Clinical Services Plan, according to the RPS EOI. This has led to substantial gaps in available data regarding hospital usage, making it unreliable for managing current and future healthcare needs, forecasting demographic shifts, and anticipating trends in disease patterns.
The Australian Government stepped in to assist Fiji after a formal request was made in November last year by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) to the Australian High Commission in Fiji.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji Ewen McDonald revealed that a company to lead this work will be announced soon.
“We’re working very closely together on that to deliver an infrastructure master plan,” he said during a joint announcement with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Biman Prasad on Australia’s $87 million funding support under the upgraded Vuvale Partnership programme.
“We know how important that work is not only to the Deputy Prime Minister and the government but also to the people of Fiji. So I expect the company that will lead that work to be announced in the next few weeks. This work will then get underway. It’s not a task that will be done overnight but it’s very important that the master plan is done well.”
In March, Australia announced $14.7 million in support to fund the CWMH master plan.