New pediatric intensive care unit to be constructed at K.H.M.H.

A new pediatric intensive care unit, to provide services to critically ill children, is soon to be constructed at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.  The PICU project is being led by Special Envoy for Women and Children and Lifeline Director Kim Simpliss-Barrow.  She is joined by the Ministry of Health, K.H.M.H. Authority, the Challenge Gobie Foundation, as well as the Oak Foundation in seeing the initiative to fruition.  This afternoon at the KHMH a brief contract signing ceremony was held.

Kim Simplis Barrow, Special Envoy for Women & Children

Kim Simplis Barrow

“I can’t express how very, very happy I am that we’re signing this contract today, at this precise moment.  Dr. Allen can tell you about how many times I harassed him for updates and contracts and project proposals and we kept at it, working, trying to secure the funds to build this pediatric intensive care unit.  We broke grounds about, what was it, a year ago and I was very disappointed that we couldn’t start immediately after breaking ground.  I for one, I don’t like to break ground until I have monies.  Sometimes, you know, government tend to do things a little bit differently but I’m happy that we’ve reached this point and we can say that we’re starting the first phase of the pediatric intensive care unit.”

Alan Gobie

Alan Gobie, Founder, Challenge Gobie Foundation

“About fifteen, sixteen months ago [Dr. Peter Allen] approached me if we would be willing to support the new K-Unit for the children of Belize and it was a no-brainer.  Of course we would!  And we got a lot of Belizean people now, working day after day, raffles, car raffles, bike rides, just raising money to make this venture possible and I’d just like to thank Pete and Kim for all the support they’ve given the challenge as we go forward to not just get the one million together.  We want to keep it going for the next three to four years to make sure it’s a success and one of the successes is to get it running day by day.”

Peter Allen

Dr. Peter Allen, C.E.O., Ministry of Health

“This is a wing of the hospital that will be unlike the rest of the hospital because it will be specifically dedicated to children, specifically sculpted and architectured, if that’s a word, to cater to the needs of the children, to make a special place where children feel as comfortable as possible.”

Construction on the project will be done by Gutierrez and Associates Architecture and is set to begin in January 2013.