Thursday October 15, 2008, St. George’s; “A thumbs-up rating”. That’s how officials from the Ministry of Health, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and Gleans Engineering, rated the Paraclete and Tivoli medical stations which is in their final stages of construction. A delegation led by Health Minister, Hon. Karl Hood and Minister of State in the Ministry of Health Sen. the Hon. Ann Peters, on Wednesday visited both facilities in St. Andrew. The objective of the visit was to provide the island’s healthcare decision makers, with an opportunity to see first-hand the facilities that are being built and how best they can make budgetary and staffing allocations for the facilities. Construction of both facilities began on May 7th 2008 and according to Project Manager and head of the BNTF’s local office, Isaac Bhagwan both projects are at least one month ahead of schedule. He said the intended completion date for Paraclete medical station is January 2009, while Tivoli is February of that same year. Bhagwan added that both facilities are being constructed to the tune of EC $935,000.00 and EC $1.3 million respectively. Carlyle Glean Junior of Gleans Engineering who is supervising the project on behalf of the CDB and the Government of Grenada said the project was conceptualized and designed after consultation with major players in the healthcare sector. Mr. Glean explained that on completion of the project the buildings will be 100% resistant to wind and hurricane damage. According to Mr. Glean seismic forces will have little or no effect on the buildings. In addition durable quality accessories that will enable savings on maintenance, have been installed. However Sen. Peters said the overall goal of the Ministry of Health is committed to improving the delivery of Primary Healthcare to the population. She said while the Ministry will place emphasis on tertiary healthcare, it is important for the people in the various communities to embrace, endorse and take responsibility for their own healthcare. Minister Peter’s comments were also echoed by Minister Hood, who reaffirmed that under his watch the Government will continue to provide quality health facilities. He noted that the Ministry will remain focused on its mission and will spare no effort at improving the facilities and make primary healthcare the envy of the region. According to Minister Hood the Ministry has looked at other versions of Primary Healthcare throughout the region, but the ultimate objective is to make Grenada the best of them all. Wednesday’s delegation also included Glena Knights, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Myrna Hagley Senior planning officer and Samuel Maxwell of the Caribbean Development Bank. Inside Grenada News