St Kitts and Nevis unveils designs for new climate smart JNF Hospital, pioneering future-ready healthcare

St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew has officially unveiled the designs of the new climate smart Joseph N France General Hospital. The design was revealed during an official ceremony held on February 7, 2025, in the presence of several government ministers and other officials.  

This new facility, upon completion, will revolutionise infrastructural designs in the Federation and redefine the delivery of healthcare services in St Kitts and Nevis. 

During his address at the ceremony, PM Drew said that this design concept is the best concept the government has come up with to satisfy the medical needs of the people in St Kitts and Nevis.  

“Needless to say that this hospital is a necessity, it is not a want, it is not just for legacy purposes,” outlined the Prime Minister. He added that healthcare s the foundation of any country and this new hospital is all set to become a state of the art facility. 

While expressing his commitment to deliver the best possible healthcare facilities, Dr Drew said that the government has made sure that whatever they are delivering to the people of St Kitts and Nevis it is the best featuring modern facilities. 

"We in St Kitts and Nevis are accustomed to be the leaders in healthcare. When you go way back, as he mentioned from the 19th century, all the way up to the 20th century, all the way up to now, we had been on the forefront always and so, we want to maintain that,” he further outlined.  

The Prime Minister called healthcare a basic right and not a privilege and added that therefore this facility will be built to serve the people of St Kitts and Nevis in the best possible way. 

Talking about the importance of delivering such facility, PM Terrance Drew said that the Caribbean is going through climate change and recalled the storms which hit the St Vincent and the Grenadines in July 2024, saying that if the Federation goes through something like this, the government wants to ensure that locals have JNF Hospital in times of such emergencies.  

He further noted that the new facility will have more capacity than now. There will also be an improvement in the efficiency of the staff, improving the satisfaction for the people and PM Drew said that this will translate into a number of positive health outcomes.  

The other thing he said that it had to be climate smart noting that, “Climate smart in the sense that it can withstand the hurricane, but it can also withstand the insidious changes of climate change, the extreme heat that's affecting certain materials today.”

He also called this a landmark project and expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in the funding of this climate smart hospital. 

With the unveiling of the new design, the construction on the new climate smart hospital is expected to begin soon with the government committed to deliver the best possible healthcare to the locals and the visitors.