The near completion state-of-the-art $25 million Children’s Heart Hospital will be opened soon.

This was confirmed by Sai Prema Foundation Fiji director, Sumeet Tappoo.

Mr Tappoo said the hospital was a 10- year plan but it changed after he met a parent of a heart patient.

“The hospital was a 10-year plan. One day I was informed by my wife to give a certificate to one of the heart patients who had a successful operation and this child was two years old,” Mr Tappoo said.

“When I met the mother, she thanked me and kept crying and I could tell there was more behind the tears,” he said.

“I asked her and she told me that she was informed to have $100,000 in order to take her child overseas for surgery.

“She said she didn’t have that much and her yearly pay was $5000 so she quit her job to look after her child waiting for him to pass away.

“Hearing this story touched me. It is heartbreaking to hear that a parent who was a single mother was looking after her child and waiting for him to die and no parent should go through that.

“I told myself that this hospital should be done as soon as possible because there are a lot of people who can’t afford to take their children overseas for treatment.”

“The construction of the $25million Hospital is well advanced and the hospital will be officially inaugurated by the Prime Minister soon after the opening up of the international borders,” Mr Tappoo said.

Construction cost is about $13million.

“We have different specialists in the construction of the hospital.

“This is because we want everything to be up to the overseas hospital standard.

“The hospital has 27 hospital beds. 11 for ICU, 10 beds at the general wards and 6 at the preoperational ward.”

The hospital is the biggest charitable project undertaken by a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) in Fiji.

“The vision of this proposed children’s heart hospital is to become the most important pediatric cardiac care centre for Fiji and the Pacific Island nations,” Mr Tappoo said.

“Pursuant to the principles of the Foundation, no child or parent will pay for the surgery.

All services at the Hospital including Heart Surgery is free of charge.

“Despite the charitable nature of the project, the Sai Prema Foundation is creating a world-class facility with the aim of providing the best possible surgery and treatment to the children of Fiji and the Pacific,” he said.

Beddings stacked at the near completion Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The Foundation is going to provide free training abroad for Fijians in its bid to build local capacity with a vision that one day the state-of-the-art specialist hospital will be in operation with local Fijian surgeons, doctors and medical personnel.

Mr Tappoo says: “The hospital is a three-way partnership between the Sai Prema Foundation Fiji, Sri Sathya SaiSanjeevani India and the Ministry of Health.

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