Construction of new kids’ hospital  after parking squabble moves on

The construction of the new Hospital del Niño, on Avenida Balboa, is in the execution phase, cleaning the land and studying the soil and the objecting doctors from the Santo Tomás Hospital on the issue of parking consider the “case closed.”

The director of Infrastructure of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) , Carlos Candanedo, said that after conversations with doctors from, the Santo Tomas Hospital the work is underway as planned

In Candanedo’s words, the project is following the corresponding administrative processes and complying with each of the regulations. The gardens of the Santo Tomás Hospital are considered historical heritage, but due to their current deterioration, they are part of the scope of the project for their restoration.

Juan Carmelo Wong and Jorge Puerta, leaders of the Association of Specialist Physicians of Santo Tomás, stressed that the discomfort arose when the work began without informing the personnel who used that land as a parking area.

The medical director of the Hospital del Niño, Paul Gallardo, said that in their case they had no problems, since before the work began they had located spaces on the coastal strip and other nearby areas, where they could park about 250 of their staff.

“We hope that the project continues without further setbacks. I think we passed the most complex and difficult stage, which was to tender and award the work. Now we must take it forward so that it is ready as quickly as possible for the good of our children” he said.

The project was awarded in February to Acciona Construcción, SA, and includes building and equipping the hospital, the parking building and the restructuring of the gardens. The amount assigned to this new project is $443 million.

The hospital will be on the former grounds of the United States embassy.