BHB Purchases Craig Appin House Building
The Bermuda Hospitals Board [BHB] announced it has “purchased Craig Appin House in Hamilton in a favourable deal that protects it from future rental increases.”
A spokesperson said, “BHB has rented space in Craig Appin for over ten years, after it had to decant its Human Resources, ITS and Finance offices from the Queen Elizabeth Nurses Residence in 2011 due to its poor physical condition. Over 100 BHB employees work in Craig Appin, including a medical concierge service that assists patients with medical travel.
“The QENR was on the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital campus next to Berry Hill Road. Its construction was completed in May 1960 and originally housed nurses coming to Bermuda from overseas. It was demolished in 2016 following assessments that found it would be too costly to try and repair and maintain.”
Chief Financial Officer, Arthur Ebbin, comments: “I would very much like to thank the owners of Craig Appin who offered BHB favourable and flexible terms for the purchase. BHB will pay the same amount it has been paying each year in rent as it pays for the building. This means we have been able to afford the purchase based on our cash flow.
“Rental income from other services in the building will help offset maintenance costs for the immediate future. Critically, this deal protects us from the rental market increases in Hamilton over the coming years and provides us with options for estate planning to benefit our services to the community.”
The spokesperson said, “As is required, the deal was approved by the Minister of Health and Minister of Finance, as well as the BHB Board and Executive.”
Good job!