A SPECIALITY private hospital is at the centre of a proposed investment of more than $FJD200 million by UTOF and Fiji National University.
The project is still subject to technical assessments, final design and regulatory approvals, UTOF chairperson Lavinia Kaumaitotoya said.
The projects will also cover sporting facilities at FNU’s Nasinu site and student accommodation and sports infrastructure at the university’s Marine School in Laucala Bay, Kaumaitotoya said.
The investment figure remains provisional, with the final project scope, hospital capacity and financing structure still to be determined.
“We don’t have the definitive details at the moment. It’s definitely going to be well over 200 million,” Kaumaitotoya said.
“The investment, the details are still yet to be ironed out.”
The proposed private hospital in Nabua, Suva, is expected to be the centrepiece of the partnership.
Kaumaitotoya said the facility would be developed as a speciality hospital to complement Fiji’s existing public medical infrastructure and expand access to higher-standard medical services.
“We’re looking at a specialty private hospital,” she said. The project would support efforts “to ensure that we have global standard medical facilities here in Fiji.”
The agreement brings together FNU’s land, staff and medical training capabilities with UTOF’s investment funds, including capital from its unit holders, Kaumaitotoya said.
She said the partnership aligned with UTOF’s focus on education, health and well-being, while allowing the fund to invest in medical infrastructure and generate returns for unit holders.
“For us in Unit Trust, one of our pillars is education, and also health and well-being,” Kaumaitotoya said.
She described the arrangement as a public-university partnership involving one party with property assets and another with investment capital.
The accommodation component is intended to address a shortage affecting students from Fiji’s maritime communities, other parts of the country and the wider region.
“We are all well aware of the fact of student accommodation, the shortage,” Kaumaitotoya said.
The project aims to provide “quality accommodation to accommodate many of our students,” including local, maritime and regional students.
The developments remain at an early technical stage. UTOF said technical teams would now assess the project’s physical infrastructure, costs, structural requirements and regulatory approvals. The hospital assessment will also cover expensive medical equipment and the types of machines required to operate the facility.
“This is just the technical first stage,” she said. “Now comes the big work,” including work by technical advisers and quantity surveyors, followed by the necessary approvals.
Groundbreaking could take place in less than 18 months if approvals are secured, although the overall process could take between 18 and 24 months, Kaumaitotoya said.
“Technically, when you do a project, it can take up to 18 months to 24 months because you have approvals, documentation, structural approvals, and then groundbreaking,” she said.
The partners intend to rely primarily on local expertise, including FNU’s medical and technical capabilities.
“We believe in FNU. They have the expertise, and we will use our own people,” Kaumaitotoya said.
“This is a made-in-Fiji project.”
