[Photo: FILE]

Patients and staff at Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva could soon see relief as new lifts installed in the hospital’s West Wing near completion after several years of breakdowns and limited service.

CWM Superintendent Dr Luke Nasedra says the facility, which normally operates four lifts in the West Wing area, has for much of the past years been relying mainly on a single working lift at the Lancaster lift while others remained out of service.

He notes that the non-operational lifts included the children’s ward lift and the food service lift, both of which had been down for an extended period, creating daily challenges for hospital operations.

Dr Nasedra states the government raised a tender to decommission the old lifts and install four new ones. The contract included replacing lifts serving the West Wing, the children’s ward and the Lancaster area.

He adds that work began toward the end of last year with technicians from Otis Elevator Company carrying out the removal of the old systems and installing the new lifts.

The lift located outside the Lancaster area facing the ambulance bay in the West Wing has already been completed and is now operational.

The Hospital Superintendent says installation work has also been carried out on the children’s ward and Lancaster lifts as most of the structural work has been completed.

He adds that Workers are currently installing and calibrating sensors and other electronic systems on each level before the lifts can undergo final inspections.

Once the technical work is finished, the lifts will be inspected and commissioned by occupational health and safety authorities before they are opened for use.

Dr Nasedra says the Lancaster lift sensors were completed earlier this week, with work continuing on the remaining lifts as the new lifts are to be operational before the end of the month.

However, progress on the fourth lift the food service lift used to transport rations directly to the hospital kitchen has been delayed after workers discovered that part of its supporting structure was made of wood, requiring additional structural work before installation can continue.

Despite the setback, the near completion of the new lift systems is expected to significantly improve movement within Fiji’s largest hospital, easing the strain on staff and improving access for patients who have endured years of lift disruptions.

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