A seven storey building is planned to be constructed on the premises to expand the space being used by the Addu Equatorial Hospital.
A seven storey building is planned to be constructed on the premises to expand the space being used by the Addu Equatorial Hospital.
Addu Equatorial Hospital is a 100-bed tertiary hospital established in the southernmost atoll of the Maldives, Addu City, in the island of Hithadhoo.
Addu Equatorial Hospital CEO Dr Ibrahim Yasir Ahmed told Mihaaru today that currently, the hospital does not have sufficient space to provide tertiary level services. Hence, in order to expand the services, the hospital has come to a decision to construct an additional building.
Instead of constructing a separate building for the purposes, former President Abdulla Yameen's administration decided to operate the Equatorial Hospital in the convention center initially constructed by former President Mohamed Nasheed for the SAARC Summit that was held during his time in office.
The convention center itself was built on the marshlands in Addu. Construction of the new building would necessitate further reclamation of marshland, which locals are currently expressing concerns about.
Yasir said that the current plan is to build the annex to the right as you come in from the Emergency entrance.
Construction of the seven storey building would require reclamation of additional wetland, he said. He added that studies are being conducted to explore possibilities of constructing the building without reclamation of the wetlands.
"It will be easier to connect the two buildings if the new building is built on the right side in the area towards the emergency entrance. This is something that has been planned even earlier. At the time, we even received permits from HPA. However, with some changes, this is being done as a new project now," Yasir said.
Once the new building is constructed, the available area for the hospital will double in size. Yasir said that the new hospital will have private rooms, and will offer new services.
It is so far undecided when work will commence on this new building.
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