The ribbon was cut for the Arima Hospital on Tuesday, signaling its official availability for service to the public. 

At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said opening the 150-bed facility was of utmost importance to his government, despite the economic challenges it faced in completing the job.

The project, started under the the People’s Partnership, was completed at $1.6 billion, a figure that was welcomed by government given the budget for the project was $1.8 billion. 

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said the facility will significantly improve the public health sector’s ability to meet the needs of the people.

“If you look at the map of Trinidad and Tobago and the population distribution, you would find that a hospital in Arima is as central as any other, probably more central than all the others,” he said. 

Meanwhile Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, said with the new facility now able to share in the patient load, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex can move forward with planned advancements.

“TheEric Williams (Mt Hope) could start to realise its vision of being a tertiary centre for advanced treatment in things like cardiac disease, neuroscience and surgery and take that load off and put it in these satellite hospitals,” he said.