IMPROVEMENTS to the nearly 40-year-old King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) are expected to run in the region of $35 and $40 million.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) is planning to launch a major capital campaign in the coming weeks to raise the funds which, among other things, would see the building rewired, poor plumbing addressed, various facilities improved and repaired and state-of-the-art technologies introduced.

According to BHB chief executive officer Joan Dillas-Wright, a feasiblitity study showed the community would support the multi-million-dollar campaign.

"We do have challenges with regard to our infrastructure and, as a consequence, we have some capital projects that I think we need to get off the ground," she said. "Our Intensive Care Unit - which I believe was temporarily relocated with (the building of the new) Cardiology Unit - and the morgue immediately come to mind.

"We need a new laundry. As we've opened new facilities here, like our surgical wing, (we've found) we need to address the piping structure because we have some leaks in certain areas. So we need to spend some money on the infrastructure."

The CEO made the comments as she announced that the BHB would begin carrying out research to determine what the public thinks of King Edward VII and St. Brendan's Hospitals this coming Monday.

Expected to last a week, the random telephone poll will survey 400 residents. Its main objectives are to find out what people think the hospital does well, in which areas they feel it needs to improve, how people find out about hospital developments and how they would like to get information in the future.

"We will shortly be implementing a public relations campaign and we want to find out directly from the public what information they expect from the hospital and how we might improve our communications with them," Mrs. Dillas-Wright explained.

"We plan to repeat the research on a regular basis so that we can measure the change in perception levels."

The research, she added, would enable the BHB to more effectively communicate hospital developments to the public, thereby fulfilling a promise it made earlier this year.

Said chairman Jonathan Brewin: "When the new board was appointed, we made a pledge to open our communications with the public. The results of this research will enable us to find out exactly what the public thinks about the hospitals' strengths as well as the areas they think we need to improve. We will review how we address the issues and how we might better communicate with the public. I encourage all those who are telephoned to give us their full and frank opinion."

The comments echoed those made by Mr. Brewin soon after he was appointed chairman as, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper, he discussed the challenges faced by KEMH and St. Brendan's.

"I am very mindful of the fact that in this jurisdiction health care can be something of a political football," he said at the time. "We can't allow that. We need to be reassuring the community that we are working on meeting their needs with the services we provide. For that reason, there has to be an open conduit of communication, so we are transparent. At the same time we have to ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times."

Nearly 40 years old, the hospital's ailing infrastructure was also a cause for concern. It suffered from plumbing problems and was badly in need of a rewiring, Mr. Brewin said in April, citing an anticipated cost of between $25 and $30 million.

"I think we've upped it a bit more than that," Mrs. Dillas-Wright said. "It may be closer to $35 to $40 million. And so, we will be launching a capital campaign soon. You'll probably hear more about it within the next few weeks or so and we hope to raise funds that will fund some of our capital projects.

"The cost is significant. But the information we received from the feasibility study we conducted, is that the community will support the campaign. KEMH is the only (medical hospital) on the island and there are high expectations. People come in and they want to see a hospital with good standards, good quality of care and the latest technological services."

To that end, the CEO added, the hospital was working to encourage students - through a variety of ways - to join the local medical community. Especially targeted, she said, were potential nurses.

"I would say that more than 50 per cent of our nursing personnel are recruited from overseas so the nursing category as a professional group is an area that we are really trying to push," she explained.

"As part of our plan to attract people into nursing, students can do their two-year Associate degree at Bermuda College and transfer to Hampton University in Virginia for the final two years of a four-year baccalaureate degree in nursing.

"There are about 16 or 17 young people in the programme so far and we will have, I believe, three young people going off to Hampton University in September. But we're also encouraging people in the other areas - laboratory, medicine, social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy - just about all the different areas you can think of here at the hospital.

"It's been done in the past but (we're increasing our commitment). We're focusing on the staff, ensuring they are up to date with their knowledge base and their clinical skills; that they're professional.

"I would really like to have staff who are proud and happy about working in this facility, who feel that they can make a difference, who feel that they're listened to; that they can contribute to the improvements. I think the staff bring a wealth of experience and they need to have the recognition for what they bring."