King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is likely to be rebuilt on its current site amid fears that a cheaper and quicker move to the Arboretum could trigger traffic problems.

The new facility is likely to cost in the region of $500 million, and the project is likely to take more than a decade to complete, Health Minister Patrice Minors (pictured above) has revealed.

The future of the ageing hospital and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute went before Cabinet in November, and behind-the-scenes discussions are currently in progress.

Mrs. Minors told last month that other possible sites under consideration included the Arboretum and the Botanical Gardens.

Moving the hospital to the Arboretum, she said at the time, would be the least expensive option and quickest to achieve with the new facility possibly opening as early as 2010, while a rebuild at the current site could take until 2017.

However, speaking at the weekend, she said: ?The most likely location will be in the vicinity of where the hospital is right now although we have not made the final decision.

?Although the Arboretum is the least expensive, it would also be a reduction in open space. That particular location has significant structures there already such as the National Sports Centre and CedarBridge Academy and there is a fear that there could be a traffic issue with those multiple functions.?

The Minister said she could not see construction starting for another five or six years and that the project would then take more than five years to complete.

The total cost of the project could be ?possibly $50 million,? she said, explaining: ?We are trying to minimise the costs.?

She revealed that she has asked the Bermuda Hospitals Board to re-visit the set of plans it has given her in order to come up with less costly option, but acknowledged: ?We recognise that the expenditure is going to be the most significant this Government has been called upon to make.?

Mrs. Minors was speaking in response to remarks that Deputy Opposition Leader Maxwell Burgess made during the economic debate in Parliament on Friday.

Mr. Burgess had branded KEMH a ?Third World? facility and criticised the Government for failing to include a commitment to rebuild the ageing hospital in the budget statement for 2006-07. ?Thank you to every member of staff who turns up to KEMH and gives service in a facility that was outdated I don?t know when,? said Mr. Burgess, calling for urgent action.

?We don?t know when the building is going to fall down on us. We need to commit to building a new hospital ? KEMH is Third World.?

However, Mrs. Minors rejected his comments, saying: ?We are far from being Third World. If you compare Bermuda to any other community hospital that serves a community of 60,000 we are highly regarded and high in our standards.?

She said she had recently met with Dr. Ernest Davis, who works for the US State Department to review health care in areas with an American population. ?He had favourable words to say about our health care system, so I am dismissive about any comments made about our hospital being Third World,? said Mrs. Minors. An announcement on the final site and the plans for the new hospital is likely to be made this summer, she added.