By: Lindsay Thompson/BIS
Minister of Health and Wellness the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville led an inspection of the Coconut Grove Advanced Health Centre under construction.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held almost a year ago, on April 9, 2025 in accordance with the Davis Administration’s pledge to make healthcare accessible throughout the communities.
For nearly 45 years, the old Coconut Grove Clinic provided essential maternal and child health services, general care and health education to all who passed through its doors. But after it was damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, services were transferred to the nearby Baillou Hill Road and Fleming Street Clinics.
The new facility will restore services to those residents in the surrounding areas of St. Barnabas, Englerston, and Bain and Grants Town.
The Coconut Grove Advanced Health Centre will be built to Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification, making it not just sustainable and handicap accessible, but climate resilient. It will be a 14,500-sq. ft. facility built on the four-acre site at an initial cost of just over $10.5 million. However, recent adjustments pushed that cost to an estimated $12 million.
Consultant Architect, Livingston Forbes, acknowledged setbacks including debris and defects, but remains confident the project will be completed early next year.
Present was the Minister of Economic Affairs the Hon. Michael Halkitis who also spoke to the need for such a facility for residents.
Dr. Darville said that the facility would serve as a community clinic providing primary and urgent care services, taking some of the strain off the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
“It is designed to reduce waiting time, improve access to care and give residents a welcoming environment that supports prevention, early detection, and long term wellness,” he said.
The facility will be equipped with an operating theatre, a morgue, to handle post-pandemic casualties, and green facility for climate resilience protocols.
Professionals involved in the project include: project architect Livingstone Forbes; structural and civil engineers — Island Dimensions Development Company; mechanical and electrical engineers — Chris Symonette and Associates; general contractor — A & M Construction Company Ltd.; and the ministry’s quantity surveyor — Veritas Consultants Ltd.
(BIS Photos/Kristaan Ingraham)
