Anguilla’s senior ministerial advisor for health has said he is “very optimistic” the government will be able to fund a new hospital within the next five years.
Evans McNiel Rogers told a government press conference on Monday, 28 April, that there is a “dire need” for a fit-for purpose health facility to replace the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
He suggested that a 160-165 bed hospital “with all the bells and whistles” would cost about US$35-40 million and it is his intention to work towards that goal.
McNiel Rogers, who previously served as health minister, said the reason a new hospital had not been built during his tenure was partly due to a lack of funds.
He explained that in 2015 he had worked on establishing a ‘501C3 facility’, which he described as a non-profit organisation set up to raise funds for a new hospital.
The aim was that US citizens, who owned property in Anguilla, would make charitable donations in exchange for tax relief.
“We were not fortunate enough to be able to have .ai revenue coming in,” he said, adding that there are different options for funding today.
“There are various sources and much more avenues that are open to us now that didn’t exist prior, so we intend to go ahead and explore all those avenues so that we can make it a reality,” he said.
Princess Alexandra Hospital in The Valley offers a range of medical services including emergency care, surgery and specialist treatments.
The healthcare facility faces several issues including limited resources, space constraints, infrastructure issues, and dependance on external support.
In July, 2024, then premier and health minister Ellis Webster said a modern, state-of-the-art hospital facility was part of the government’s plans.
However, at the time he said his administration had “lots of priorities” which had to be executed in order of importance.
Watch the press conference in full below:
