BHB Announces Selection of Local Legal Advisors to KEMH Redevelopment Project

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces that local company Conyers, Dill & Pearman (Conyers) has been selected as legal advisors to the KEMH Redevelopment Project. The firm was chosen following a robust selection process.

Founded in 1928, Conyers’ Bermuda office provides advice and services on the full range of the firm’s corporate, litigation, restructuring & insolvency and trust & private client practices. Internationally, Conyers has offices in eleven countries, employing over 550 staff including more than 150 lawyers.

BHB Deputy CEO Venetta Symonds says: “We are very pleased to have appointed Conyers as our local legal advisors. The current phase of the project requires a high calibre team comprising international and local advisors and BHB staff. Recently, we took our first steps towards selecting a private partner with the release of the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The work of our advisory team during this selection process is critical to the successful delivery of the new facilities.”

Conyers will work with Davis LLP, BHB’s PPP legal advisor, to ensure BHB has the PPP expertise and knowledge of local legal requirements to select a private partner next year who will deliver the new facilities to the correct specifications.

The KEMH Redevelopment Project is driven by the need to increase our acute care space by 50%, as recommended by the Johns Hopkins International Review (released in November 2008 and available on BHB’s website). The project includes the addition of a patient tower and ambulatory care centre plus a new central utility plant on the KEMH site, as well as the renovation of the existing KEMH facility. The new facilities will be delivered by a form of public private partnership (PPP) called design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM). It is expected that the first patients will walk through the doors of the new acute care facilities in less than five years.

The project is on schedule and BHB anticipates groundbreaking in late 2010.

About the KEMH Redevelopment Project:
In November 2008, the addition of two new patient wings and a new central utility plant was announced as part of the KEMH Redevelopment Project. The design, construction, financing and maintenance of the new facilities will be delivered by a form of public private partnership (PPP). The construction cost of the new PPP facilities is estimated to be about $260 million *. It is expected that the first patients will walk through the doors of the new facilities in about five years. During this time, BHB will spend approximately an additional $55 million* renovating the existing hospital building using traditional procurement methods. These renovations will be funded by BHB and managed as a separate part of the overall redevelopment project. Both renovation and the addition of new facilities are vital to the complete redevelopment of KEMH to meet Bermuda’s future acute healthcare needs.

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