Dozens of politicians and medical professionals turned out to see the hospital redevelopment project take its first steps on the road to completion.Premier Paula Cox, past Premiers Ewart Brown and Alex Scott, and Health Minister Zane DeSilva were among those who attended the official groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will undergo extensive redevelopment over the next three years at a projected cost of $315 million.The facility could get a new name at the end of that period. Bermuda Hospitals Board chairman Herman Tucker yesterday said the board felt the time was right to find a name that fit the modern health care service and facility it was striving to provide.The board has not made a formal application, but is requesting that an official process start to find an appropriate name, said Mr Tucker.Paget Health Services, a consortium of local and international companies, will design, build, finance and maintain the facility over the next 30 years.The new site will address the shortage of space at the current facility and will include 90-single occupant en suite patient rooms and Bermuda’s first dedicated day surgery unit.It will also include oncology, dialysis, asthma and diabetes services, as well as diagnostic imaging services, a new emergency room and utility plant.Ms Cox said the project wasn’t “about digging a hole in the ground”, but about building a 21st century world-class health care facility. “It is a significant development that is pivotal in the provision of greatly improved health services to the people of Bermuda.“It has taken dogged determination by many to get us to this landmark occasion and I should like to congratulate everyone for their hard work, dedication and commitment to its success.”She acknowledged those whose input, support and assistance had brought the project to this stage and singled out the late Health Minister Nelson Bascome, former Health Minister Walter Roban and Malcolm Butterfield, of KPMG.The Premier said in the past decade remarkable advances had been made in health care. The next decade should promise “even greater changes at an even more rapid pace”, she added.Mr Tucker said space was even more necessary today as there are more people in need of emergency services.“Times are tougher today than they were when we started our journey, the need for more space only becomes greater as time passes. Emergency visits are increasing in number as well as intensity, resulting in our current facility becoming more and more congested.“We need to be able to offer more services on-Island and ensure that people in the community trust our quality, in order to reduce medical travel and control health care costs.”KPMG partner Mr Butterfield, whose company acted as business advisors of the project, said it would help Bermuda reach a milestone in health care that was “second to none”.He told The Royal Gazette: “This is a great milestone, but I am looking more forward to the ribbon-cutting service in 2014.”Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson also applauded the initiative and said: “There is obviously a need for an updated hospital. It is necessary and overdue.”Still she questioned how the facility would be financed by the population in the economic downturn.Environment Minister Mr Roban also praised the project. “I am ecstatic that we have gotten here to the groundbreaking of what is perhaps the most important development of any kind in Bermuda’s history.“It was an honour to have been given the responsibility [and to have been passed] the ball after the honourable Nelson Bascome passed away knowing the significance of the project.”