The lift outage at Suva’s Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital involves ageing infrastructure in the facility’s East wing, not the newly installed elevators, Minister for Health Dr Atonio Lalabalavu said on Thursday, seeking to quell mounting public concern. He confirmed three new lifts in the West wing were commissioned last week and a fourth is currently being completed, while the two lifts out of service are the older East wing units.
“Let me be very clear, the three new lifts and the fourth one being currently completed is in the West wing,” Dr Lalabalavu told reporters. “The two lifts being discussed are the old lifts in the East wing.” He said hospital staff and patients were already benefiting from the three operational lifts as construction continues on the additional unit.
The Ministry of Health had earlier issued a statement indicating a mechanical fault had taken the East wing lift out of service and that repair work was underway. Those repairs remain in progress, and contingency arrangements have been activated to preserve patient care, the ministry said — measures that Dr Lalabalavu reiterated were outlined in the earlier release. He noted contingency plans specifically account for intensive care and wards located on upper floors.
The latest outage has reopened scrutiny over the reliability of CWM Hospital’s infrastructure. The hospital, Fiji’s main referral centre, has long been under pressure from ageing facilities and growing patient demand, and interruptions to core services such as vertical transport draw immediate concern because of their potential to affect timely access to emergency and critical care.
Hospital administrators have implemented temporary measures while repairs and the West wing upgrades proceed. Those measures include rerouting patient and staff movements to the new lifts where possible and prioritising transport for urgent cases to maintain clinical operations. Dr Lalabalavu highlighted that these mitigation steps were part of the ministry’s contingency planning during the installation phase of the new units.
The commissioning of three new lifts last week represents a tangible improvement in the hospital’s capacity, and completion of the fourth West wing lift is expected to further reduce dependence on older equipment. The minister did not provide a precise timeline for the completion of the fourth lift or the full restoration of the East wing elevators but indicated repair teams remain on site and work is ongoing.
As repairs continue, Dr Lalabalavu sought to reassure the public that patient safety remains the ministry’s priority and that the recent disruption does not involve the recently installed systems. The clarification aims to correct earlier confusion and to underscore that long-term upgrades at CWM Hospital are progressing despite intermittent setbacks.
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