Chiloé hospital project's sole bid is 80% over budget

The project to build a new hospital in Quellón, on Chile's southern Chiloé island, received just one bid, which is nearly 80% higher than the 27bn pesos (US$45mn) budgeted by the health ministry.

The 48bn-peso bid by local consortium Claro Vicuña Valenzuela-Ingetal-Dragados on Thursday will have to be reviewed because it came in at least 10% over budget, local director of health services Marcela Cárcamo announced.

Works on the project – a partnership between the Chiloé health services and the public works ministry's regional architecture department – are expected to begin by the end of the year and finished by 2019.

Works include building 17,000m2 worth of facilities, including three residences, a nursery, two surgical pavilions and one birthing room. The hospital will have 57 beds, and four emergency rooms.

The director of the existing Quellón hospital, Carlos Zapata, said the current facilities were built for a much smaller population than what it serves today, reported BioBio Chile. The new hospital will serve 32,000 people.