Full details of new design and infrastructure of climate-smart JNF Hospital

Nine months after the signing ceremony for the commencement of the new climate-smart Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) Hospital took place in May 2024, its design was officially unveiled at a ceremony held at St. Kitts Marriott Resort at Frigate Bay on Friday, February 7, 2025. Prime Minister Terrance Drew, who as the health minister seeks to transform the island-state’s healthcare sector, was also present at the event.

Jenson Morton, the director of health institutions in the health ministry, gave a detailed description of the new JNF Multi-Specialty Hospital. 

Thanking Prime Minister Terrance Drew and other government officials and medical and administrative members of the hospital, he said the new hospital will not only serve the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis and its floating tourist population but also the people of the entire Eastern Caribbean through a dedicated medical tourism programme. 

Features of the hospital and its services

Morton said the hospital building will be technologically smart in its operations, resilient to withstand natural forces like hurricanes and earthquakes, and environmentally green, incorporating renewable systems, including solar power.

The patients and users will have a tranquil environment conducive to healing and noise from nearby roadways and heliport will be mitigated through the use of exterior glazing and other acoustic screening.

Terraced gardens on upper floors will enhance the facility’s aesthetics.

Morton added the hospital will have enormous flexibility and capability for the in-patient units through efficient medical planning.

He noted that all Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and high dependency unit beds are provided as single occupancy rooms and not an open bay system. Besides, dispersed nursing stations for 1:1 monitoring will be provided.

There will only be single acute care inpatient rooms and twin-sharing inpatient rooms to improve operational efficiency. There will be no four or six-bed inpatient rooms. They will have patient head wall units requiring outlets for data, oxygen, electricals, medical gases, and other essentials. 

In the maternity unit, antenatal postpartum rooms will be available for single occupancy. Among the medical services that will be available are: Cardiology, dermatology, ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic, cardiothoracic surgery, mammography, neurology, nephrology, and many others. 

There will also be an accident and trauma care centre. The new hospital will have a total of 128 beds as against 164 in the current JNF General Hospital for better bed utilization. 

The new hospital will have the capacity to admit 5,694 admissions per annum and provide 2,000 childbirths per annum, which is much higher than the capacity of the current hospital.

The construction work is scheduled to begin in a few months. 

PM Terrance Drew speaks

In his address at the event, the PM thanked the Overseas Engineering and Construction Company (OECC), a Taiwan-based company, for its contributions to the project. He also called Taiwan “best friend”.

Overseas Engineering and Construction Company (OECC) is a prominent construction firm headquartered in the Republic of China (Taiwan). The firm collaborated with the government of St. Kitts and Nevis for the construction of the hospital located opposite to the University of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Ross University of Veterinary Medicine in Basseterre.

PM Drew praised Morton saying the latter left no stone unturned to make the ambitious project a reality. He said Morton consulted more than 400 people during the preparation of the plan for the hospital. The PM also praised Ambassador Leon Natta-Nelson, who oversaw the project on the government’s behalf, and other cabinet colleagues for making extra efforts towards the facility. 

Healthcare is the foundation

Speaking about the new hospital, Prime Minister Drew said it is a necessity and hasn’t been made just for legacy. He added the state-of-the-art facility is a step the island-state is taking towards upgrading its healthcare infrastructure. The PM said St. Kitts and Nevis has played a leading role in the region’s healthcare services and it can regain the position once again. 

Explaining reasons for constructing the new hospital, PM Drew said besides delivering excellent healthcare, the idea for building the new hospital is to ensure that it is not damaged during devastating hurricanes, something which was seen in many Caribbean islands in the past. The PM said they thought about upgrading the old JNF Hospital with retrofits but it would not be possible because of the cost and built factors.  

He said besides withstanding destruction caused by extreme weather conditions, the hospital will also provide relief to patients when the weather is too harsh, like during peak summer. It could also double up as a shelter during storms to protect people while a soothing natural ambience around the hospital would help people recover faster, the PM added. 

Other advantages that the hospital brings with it include giving impetus to tourism as more people will visit St. Kitts and Nevis for medical care, something which has happened in the past, and the generation of jobs for people with varying skills, particularly boosting the local economy. 

PM Drew said the hospital is being built under the administration of the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party and that his government believe fundamentally as Joseph N France, after whom the hospital is named, who believed and lived that healthcare is not a privilege but a human right.

The PM also shared the new hospital’s design on his official Facebook page.