The Bermuda Hospitals Board is spending millions of dollars upgrading hospital facilities and replacing out-of-date medical equipment.

Figures released under public access to information show that the board has scores of contracts with outside firms worth more than $20 million, spread out over months or, in some cases, years.

A BHB spokeswoman said that many of the board’s expenses related to maintaining and improving “ageing facilities”.

The BHB is spending more than $1 million replacing fire doors throughout King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s general ward, to bring the facility up to fire code standards.

A further $2.4 million is being spent upgrading electrical systems at KEMH and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, and introducing LED bulbs throughout the facilities.

The figures also show that the BHB signed four contracts with two island air-conditioning firms worth $1.3 million in the past two years.

Among medical equipment expenses, it is costing the BHB $2.13 million to upgrade the hospital’s sterile processing department and $4 million to upgrade diagnostic imaging equipment.

The spokeswoman said: “As might be expected, many of our costs relate to maintaining and improving our ageing facilities, the increasing cost of running an increasingly technology-supported healthcare service, and two major projects that were required due to increasing repairs and maintenance issues that were putting patient care at risk.

“With regards to repairs and maintenance costs, fire doors are being replaced throughout the general wing to ensure we meet Bermuda’s fire safety code, and this alone cost well over $1 million.

“About $5 million relates to various repairs, maintenance and electrical works required at our older facilities, the KEMH general wing and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and nearly $1 million has been spent on Keepers Cottage as it was in a poor state of repair and is being prepared for intellectual disability clients who have challenging behaviours.”

According to the spokeswoman, a new lighting system will save the board hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long term.

She said: “It is a planned investment that came out of BHB’s energy and sustainability plan. An energy audit was undertaken in the 2023-24 fiscal year and from this numerous projects to reduce electricity consumption were discussed.

“This is one of the ways we can reduce costs, and also be more energy-efficient. We estimate that the LED replacement will save us about $200,000 per year at current electricity rates.

“Similar to residential clients, the BHB has experienced increased Belco bills in recent years, and pays $1 million per month.

“The electronic panel replacement works at MWI and KEMH are part of maintenance repairs and upgrades to ensure our power supply.”

Referring to the upgrade or replacement of diagnostic imaging equipment, the spokeswoman said: “We had equipment that was at or had passed its life-cycle end date that had to be replaced.

“BHB has been advised by assessors that this must be done as soon as possible. The public will be very aware we had been experiencing equipment downtime more frequently due to increasing maintenance and repair of older equipment.”

The sterile processing department had to be revamped because increasing disruptions caused by old equipment and an ageing infrastructure “were putting all services, including emergency surgeries at risk”, the spokeswoman said.

The board has also had to pay out for upgrades to information technology systems and recruitment services.

The spokeswoman said: “As would be expected in an increasingly digital healthcare age, IT-related costs are rising and over $5 million of our contracts relate to systems either directly as support for improvements or related to cybersecurity, and the completion of a human resources and payroll system implementation that replaced old legacy systems.”

The board has also spent more than $500,000 for recruitment firm services.

The spokeswoman said: “Most of these costs relate to the recruitment of specialist physicians and nurses in a highly competitive international market, along with one international executive recruitment process.

“We have some individual contractors who are hired when we do not believe we need a permanent full-time post, or if there is a speciality skill or service that we do not have in-house nor can hire locally.

“It is not uncommon for hospitals to retain recruitment services to secure competent, hard-to-find talent.”