SMART Heatlth Care Facilities

As the Caribbean continues its journey towards resilience and sustainability, securing greener and smarter spaces is vital. Health care facilities in the Caribbean are being assessed to determine their safe and green standard, through the SMART Health Care Facilities in the Caribbean project. The Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (DRRC), Institute for Sustainable Development, the University of the West Indies has been contracted by the Pan American Health Organisation to conduct the Mid-term performance evaluation of Phase II of the project.The SMART (safer and greener) Health Facilities in the Caribbean project started in May 2015. It is being implemented in seven Caribbean countries: Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines over a period of five years. It is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The evaluation by the DRRC will provide a deeper understanding of the quality of implementation, the effectiveness of the project outputs and contribution to achieving the desired outcomes, sustainability and relevance to health sector resilience.  These are expected to contribute to reduction in vulnerability to disasters; inform future phases of the project; and provide experiences/best practices for other developing countries.

This phase of the project seeks to support governments of the most vulnerable countries in the Caribbean to assess and prioritize strategies to reduce vulnerability within health facilities and promote safe, smarter and more environmentally friendly facilities. The facilities are being assessed for disaster safety, adaptation to climate change, water and energy improvements, providing a road map for investments. The results will be incorporated within the national risk exposure database of each country. 

Phase II of the project is based on a highly successful pilot initiative, SMART Healthcare facilities in the Eastern Caribbean, Phase I. In phase I, a toolkit with resources for identifying and implementing practical and measureable Smart (safer and greener) building design, operations and maintenance solutions applicable to the Caribbean region was developed. The Toolkit has a step-by-step guide for Hospital Safety Index (HSI) and Green Checklist to identify areas of risk or for improvement in a health facility. The kit facilitates the assessment of large, medium and small size facilities. Other tools included in the kit are a Baseline Assessment Tool (BAT) and a Retrofitting Economical Support Tool (REST) survey conducted by Florida International University, to assist users set priorities and help to inform the selection of healthcare facilities for retrofit.

The evaluation, which will focus on relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability, will cover the period 2015 to 2017, the first three years of the project. It will be conducted over a twelve (12) week period.