Three new elevators at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital were commissioned yesterday, providing immediate relief to staff and patients while work continues to prepare a fourth lift dedicated to food rations. The Government spent more than $800,000 on the installation, a project that took nearly a year because substantial infrastructure upgrades were required before engineers could fit the new units.
Medical Superintendent Dr Luke Nasedra said the lifts — installed by OTIS Elevator engineers — are already easing movement across busy wards. Two of the new lifts are in Lancaster Ward and one serves the Children’s Ward. “We are thankful to the Government for the procurement of these four lifts,” Dr Nasedra said, noting that the three operational lifts have made transporting patients, staff and equipment much easier and reduced congestion in stairways and corridors.
The fourth lift, intended for food rations, remains incomplete because further structural and electrical works are needed in its shaft before engineers can proceed with installation. Dr Nasedra said hospital management will continue working with contractors and the ministry to finalise those preparatory works so the final unit can be commissioned as planned.
Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu said the replacements were necessary because the hospital’s previous lifts were more than two decades old and had become expensive to maintain. He stressed that many past breakdowns were attributable to improper use rather than simple overuse, describing the East Wing lift mechanisms as particularly sensitive. “It’s not the overuse; it’s how you use the lift,” Dr Lalabalavu said, urging staff and visitors to take care when moving trolleys and patients in and out to avoid jolts that can disrupt the equipment.
The minister said the ministry will put systems in place to ensure the new elevators are properly maintained and to reduce avoidable faults. The investment is part of wider efforts to modernise CWM Hospital infrastructure and reduce interruptions to clinical services caused by equipment failure, he added.
Hospital staff welcomed the improvement, saying the operational lifts cut down on delays in moving patients for scans, procedures and transfers — a particular benefit for paediatric cases managed in the Children’s Ward. Hospital administrators also noted that having a dedicated food-ration lift once completed should further reduce traffic in patient-transport lifts and lessen cross-ward congestion during busy meal and shift-change periods.
With three lifts now in use and a fourth pending completion of essential infrastructure work, hospital leaders and the Health Ministry emphasised that routine care in how lifts are used will be as important as technical maintenance in keeping the new equipment functional.
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