Brand-new Ba Hospital open through Public-Private Partnership with Aspen Medical

Ba Mission Hospital has been relocated to a brand-new Ba Hospital facility at Clopcott Street and will begin providing medical services from Saturday 9 April 2022.

Health Care (Fiji) Pte Limited, trading as Aspen Medical, will begin the management of the brand-new Ba Hospital facility following their management of the Lautoka Hospital, which commenced on 1 April 2022.

Aspen Medical‘s roll out of its medical services from Ba Hospital is the initial part of a phased rollout to improve the scope and quality of the medical services at the Ba and Lautoka hospitals.

“Partnerships that enlist the knowledge and expertise of the private sector are vital to set Fiji on the fast track to a world-class healthcare system. We’ve shown that by opening private GP clinics to the public through the recently-expanded Free GP Scheme. Now, we’re opening a new state-of-the-art Ba Hospital with Aspen Medical –– a facility that offers greater comfort and convenience and a higher quality of care to its patients. The new Ba Hospital and the Lautoka Hospital, which Aspen is already managing, are harbingers of a new suite of medical services for the Fijian people, including surgeries which have been unavailable in Fiji,” said the Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

“Aspen Medical will manage the new Ba Hospital, lending global expertise to the professional development of our doctors, nurses and hospital staff. This combination of better-trained healthcare professionals, upgraded facilities, and new medical services will position Fiji as a hub of medical tourism and aged care, turning the innate caring nature of our people into a job-creating economic engine.”

Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said this public-private partnership will allow Fijians access to quality specialist services.

“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,” said the Minister.

Aspen Medical Fiji CEO, Annette Owttrim said this is an exciting time as Aspen Medical begins its transition into both the Lautoka and Ba Hospitals.

“The entire team at Aspen Medical has been working hard to ensure a smooth transition. We have waited two years to see this day following COVID-19 related delays. We are grateful for the Fijian Government’s enormous support and the guidance of our partners, the Fiji National Provident Fund,” Owttrim said.

“I have been personally meeting with the Ba Hospital and Lautoka Hospital teams on the ground to assure them of a smooth transition and our focus on people development. Our collective goal is to improve the quality of health services. We stress that for current services at the Lautoka and Ba Hospitals, this will remain free to the public for services that they did not pay for prior to Aspen Medical commencing services. Where payments were received such as for some medications this will remain as payment by the patient.”

Health Care (Fiji) Pte Ltd is a Public-Private Partnership company formed between the Fiji National Provident Fund and Aspen Medical to manage Lautoka Hospital and Ba Hospital under a contract with the Government of Fiji.