After years of planning, numerous setbacks and delays, construction of the Cayman Islands’ first long-term mental health facility in East End has been completed, though “final touches” are needed before it can open.
Although the physical components of the $15 million, 15-acre facility are in place, Mental Health Commission chairman Dr. Marc Lockhart said there is more work to be done, and quickly, if the facility is to make its projected March 2023 opening.
“I’m happy to say that all major construction on the facility is now finished; all that is left are the final touches,” Lockhart said.
Other elements are required before the facility can open its doors, he explained.
“Well, now it is in the hands of the civil service. We have done all that we can, now it’s up to the technocrats to take the project past the finish line,” Lockhart said. “It’s the small things that you don’t normally think about that need to be finished. Staff need to be hired, the lights need to be turned on, the internet needs to be set up and so on.”
The facility initially broke ground in October 2019, with a projected December 2021 completion date. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed construction for a year, along with several other capital projects.
When completed, the facility will be able to house 54 individuals, six in each of the nine units.
In an interview with the Cayman Compass, Lockhart said an outline business case initially commissioned by the government in 2015, and released the following year, included a staffing and operating guideline which saw significant contributions from the Mental Health Commission.
“This is not my facility nor is it the Mental Health Commission’s facility,” said Lockhart. “Imagine if we didn’t have an operating theatre and a surgeon at the Cayman Islands Hospital helped to design and bring it to fruition, the facility would still belong to the HSA, and the same is in this case. This new facility belongs to the Cayman Islands government.”
However, Lockhart told the Compass he is confident that the facility should be open by early next year.
“The government, the Ministry of Health, and [Health Minister Sabrina Turner] and others before her have all been tremendously accommodating and supportive,” said Lockhart. “I’m confident their support will not waiver and we will soon be able to treat our people effectively.”
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