U.S. Government Inaugurates New Outpatient Department and Delivery Facility at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital

Press Release

Harar, Oct 5, 2015 – Today, a new outpatient department and delivery facility at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, built with funding from the Government of the United States and offering comprehensive integrated HIV clinical and maternity services, opened in Harar.  Holly Wong, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Peter H. Vrooman, Charge d’Affaires, A.I., U.S. Embassy; Professor Chemeda Fininsa, Acting President of Haramaya University; Murad Abdulhadi, President of Harari Regional State; and Dr. Kebede Worku, State Minster of Health, participated in the inauguration of the hospital.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Ms. Wong said, “We are here today to inaugurate this new Outpatient Department and Delivery facility, which will provide critical health services to the people of Harar.  The opening of this facility represents the results of our successful collaboration and our combined efforts to improve the health of the people of Harar and of Ethiopia.”

With funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and working in partnership with Haramaya University and the Harari Regional Health Bureau, the U.S. Government provided $ 3.6 million (over ETB. 73 million) for the construction of this new facility.  The facility complies with U.S. construction standards and is fully accessible.

The new facility will provide complete and coordinated care to enhance the patient-centered experience and to increase capacity to accommodate ever increasing patients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).  The hospital has a quality waiting area, ultrasound facilities, nurse stations, examination rooms, duty rooms, maternity rooms, a nursery, an operation room, a labor/delivery room with bathrooms/showers, a program on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission, a family planning unit, and adult and pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy. The new outpatient and delivery facility will be an additional asset for Haramaya University as a teaching venue for physicians and other health worker training programs.

Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital serves as a referral hospital for the entire eastern part of the Ethiopia, including the Eastern Oromia region, Dire Dawa city, the Somali region, and the Harari regional state. Currently, the facility is treating more than 2,097 HIV positive patients. Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital is a teaching hospital for Haramaya University’s College of Health and Medical Sciences. The history of America’s relationship with Haramaya University dates back to the early 1950s when the United States helped establish the original Agricultural College at Haramaya.

Source: U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa