Construction of the future territorial hospital : The Koutio Médipôle

The health sector is a major challenge for the development of the territory, in particular in terms of improving living conditions for the population. Indeed, New Caledonia’s indicators for life expectancy, medical density and hospital facilities are lower than the average in mainland France. Its health structures are dilapidated and saturated, whereas demographic factors (growth and ageing of the population, development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer) lead to an increase in demand and consequently put more pressure on the health system.

The referral hospital, the Territorial Hospital Center (CHT), which is currently spread out over four sites, is obsolete and in 2006, had to close about a hundred beds for safety reasons.

In 2010, the Congress and Government of New Caledonia approved the principle of rebuilding the CHT in the form of a Médipôle, including public and private facilities on a single site. The project involves building a hospital complex installed on a 20 ha area, which will comprise the new CHT, as well as a logistics platform, called the Logipôle, a radiotherapy-cancer center, and the new Institut Pasteur of New Caledonia.

The site will also house the Center for Functional Follow-up Care and Rehabilitation and an information and training center on renal failure. The future hospital will have a potential capacity of 585 beds and 60 places.

The construction of the Médipôle, under the contracting authority of New Caledonia, is financed by the New Caledonia Health and Social Agency, the CHT and, to a lesser extent, the various other project beneficiaries. AFD is operating alongside CDC and EIB.

The opening of the Koutio Médipôle will :

• Provide better care for patients throughout their healthcare pathway, by increasing the hospital’s reception capacity, which will put an end to the problem of saturation, but also by upgrading and streamlining healthcare provision ;
• Reduce the number of medical evacuations with the introduction of new activities (radiotherapy, for example), which will improve the professional and personal lives of patients and their families.