As part of the Smart Health Facilities Project, eleven hospitals and health centers and a laboratory in Belize will be retrofitted to make them safer, “green” and more resilient, according to an article on the Caribbean 360 website.
The Smart Health Facilities Project is an initiative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), financed by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (UKaid) and the European Union.
The facilities were selected to be part of the initiative following an assessment of country priorities and the facilities’ vulnerability to disaster risks.
The upgrades include improvements to the ceilings so that they can withstand heavy rain, wind and hurricanes; structural improvements to prevent buildings from collapsing in the event of an earthquake; and the installation of solar panels to enable energy savings.