A life-changing hospital solution

Highlights

Upgrading a 305-bed multi-specialty hospital in Lautoka that meets Australian Health Facilities Guidelines
Built a 70-bed Ba Sub-Divisional Hospital and moved all services to it from the previous Ba Mission Hospital
Built a 100-bed student accommodation facility
Successfully facilitated the first open heart surgery in the Fijian public health system for many years.

Overview

In 2018/19, the Fijian Government made a commitment to their people to modernise the local healthcare system. Following a competitive tender process, Aspen Medical was selected under the Public Private Partnership arrangement to deliver on this commitment.

The project included the development, financing, upgrade, operations and maintenance of Lautoka Hospital, Fiji’s second largest hospital, and the new Ba Sub-Divisional Hospital. Aspen Medical’s mission was to set Fiji on the fast track to a world-class healthcare system that offered greater comfort and convenience and a higher quality of care to its patients.

Service details

The Lautoka Hospital and Ba Sub-acute Hospital service the people of the Western Division of Fiji and combined, provide approximately 400 inpatient beds to a catchment area of 6,360km²and a population of approximately 365,000 people. The services at handover included:

General medicine
General surgery
Outpatients
Intensive and high dependency care
Emergency
Inpatients
Pharmacy and allied health
Pathology
Radiography (X-ray, USS, CT).

New services and enhancements

Aspen Medical has introduced new or enhanced services since assuming operational and management responsibility, including:

Cardiothoracic surgery, including open-heart
Enhanced intensive care services
Enhanced oncology
Enhanced medical imaging from X-ray through to CT
Enhanced mammography
Enhanced diabetes services.

New services scheduled to come include MRI, a Cardiac Cath Laboratory and a day surgery services at Ba Hospital.

A life saving solution

On 18 October 2022, a 55-year-old man received the first open heart surgery in the Fijian public health system in several years at the Lautoka Hospital. This capability is permanent and ongoing for the Fijian people and is an exceptionally positive sign of the increasingly high quality of care now available in Fiji.

Quick wins

With improved health outcomes needed now, we undertook an initial ‘fix’ of the Lautoka Hospital infrastructure so that it could meet the demand for services before further substantial renovations or rebuilding could be undertaken. To provide immediate access, new facilities were commissioned and equipped on a rolling basis as renovations at Lautoka Hospital progressed.

Better tech

In building a hospital with first-class service, Aspen Medical needed to prioritise first-class technology. A new ICT system was implemented that featured patient management administration, enhanced communication facilities, financial management and building management.

A smooth transition

With construction complete, our focus shifted to the professional development of the local doctors, nurses and hospital staff. Combined with upgraded facilities and new medical services, Fiji can be positioned as a hub of medical tourism and aged care, with the innate caring nature of their people being recognised both professionally and economically.

Our mission is to improve the lives of Fijians by offering them the highest possible quality of medical care, and we have an excellent partner for the health of our people in Aspen Medical. The new Ba Hospital is a state-of-the-art 70-bed facility, and it will remain a public hospital that offers free medical care to the public. The services they offer will simply be expanded and raised to a world-class standard.

Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, Minister for Health and Medical Services, Fiji