A NEW hospital built on the site of the current facility would be cheaper to run than one built on the proposed Botanical Gardens location ? but not by enough to recoup the additional $100 million in construction costs.

Yesterday, Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) chairman Anthony Richardson confirmed the current site "at the moment allows for slightly more operational efficiency to be gained" but added that the difference in operational costs was "not significant".

Last month Government announced it would build a new hospital on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens following consultation with the BHB.

The BHB later revealed that it preferred to have a new facility built on the grounds of the current hospital location ? but had this proposal knocked back after Government placed a $500-million ceiling on construction costs.

Building on the current site would cost an additional $100 million and take an extra two years to complete, experts have claimed, putting it beyond the $500-million ceiling and the 2013 deadline.

"Both the Botanical Gardens concept and same-site concept for the acute care hospital are highly efficient," Mr. Richardson said yesterday.

"Both concepts offer a much more efficient layout than our current King Edward facility, which will help to contain healthcare costs for the life of the new hospital. The same site concept at the moment allows for slightly more operational efficiency to be gained but it has a bigger footprint.

"We reduced the footprint of the Botanical Gardens concept due to the sensitivity of the site and added one extra floor. This will cause a slight, not a great, disparity in operational efficiency. It is certainly not enough to make up the $100-million difference in the up-front construction costs, which is the difference between the two concepts. Operational efficiency saves money over the life of the hospital in the form of lower healthcare costs over many decades.

"It does not change the fact that Bermuda will still need to take on the burden of the additional costs required for the construction in the next few years."