There will be a “slight delay” in the move into the new acute care wing at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, according to Health Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.

The Minister told MPs yesterday that the Bermuda Hospitals Board would give more details on the delay in coming weeks.

Thus far, April, 2014 has been set as the date to move facilities from the current hospital into its new wing.

The delay won’t affect payments made by BHB to Paget Health Services (PHS), she said — and will give the Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Trust more time to collect donations toward its first payment of $40 million to PHS under Bermuda’s first public private partnership.

Added Ms Gordon-Pamplin: “I am assured that the transition will take place next year, and I look forward to the update from the project team in the near future so that we know when we can look forward to the move.”

Reporting good progress on the construction site, she told the House that PHS last week hit “a new daily high” with 532 workers on site. The weekly average is “over 500 operatives”, she said, with the level of Bermudian workers and spouses of Bermudians held at 60 percent throughout the project.

A bridge linking the new wing with the existing hospital at the third and fourth floors of KEMH will go in place over December and January.

Flooring in the new wing is now 70 percent completed.

The transfer of services into the new wing will be revealed “in the coming weeks”, Ms Gordon-Pamplin continued.

“The acute care services transferring to the new facility include emergency, diagnostic imaging — namely the x-ray, ultrasound, MRI and CT scanning equipment — day surgery, dialysis, oncology, and 90 acute care beds.”

Remaining behind are Maternity, the Gosling children’s ward, Intensive Care, the Cardiac Diagnostic Unit, Outpatient Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology, and laboratory.

The Blood Donor Centre will remain in KEMH, along with administrative offices and the pharmacy, laundry, cafeteria and kitchens.

“New hospital buildings are perhaps the most complex of all constructions,” the Minister said.

“The fact that the delay is small shows how well the project has run so far and is testimony to the sheer hard work of everyone at BHB and PHS. A lot has been achieved.”