New beds for Navosa Hospital were taken to Ba Hospital to prepare it as an isolation facility - Waqainabete

Minister for Health, Doctor Ifereimi Waqainabete says the new beds at Ba Hospital are for the new Navosa Hospital but because they were worried about lockdowns in the West, they had prepared the Ba Hospital as a possible isolation facility.

Waqainabete says this is why they took those new beds and put it at Ba Hospital and once that has been cleared, they will be able to bring it back to where it was intended for, which is the new Navosa Hospital.

The Minister made these comments in parliament in response to a question by SODELPA MP, Niko Nawaikula who had asked if hospital equipment including beds were moved from Ba Hospital to Navosa Hospital for show during the opening.

Waqainabete says there was no show and the beds at the Ba Hospital belong to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, Waqainabete has confirmed that plans are in place to start the operations of the Ba Hospital under the private-public partnership in the second half of this year and it will be followed by the Lautoka Hospital.

He says the government signed a concessional agreement for upgrading, maintenance and development of the Lautoka and Ba Hospitals with Health Care Fiji which is 80% owned by FNPF and 20% by Aspen Medical Ltd.