Gondar, Ethiopia, January 28, 2016 – The U.S. Government, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), handed over a newly built comprehensive outpatient facility that improves the quality of comprehensive outpatient services and education at Gondar University. The United States has provided USD 9.1 million through the U.S. President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for the construction of the new facility.
The facility, which was inaugurated by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn and U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia Haslach in July 2014, is a new Comprehensive Outpatient Center (COC) located at the Gondar University Hospital.
During the handover event, Dr. Jeff Hanson, Director of the CDC program in Ethiopia, said, “This newly constructed building will allow Gondar University Hospital to offer more comprehensive and integrated HIV clinical services and create a conducive environment for clinical teaching.” He added that PEPFAR’s investment on infrastructure development at the national level has brought a significant improvement in the quality of HIV treatment and care services and diagnostic capacities.
The hospital, serving approximately 5-7 million people throughout most of the Amhara region, is well positioned to provide technical assistance for an effective regional effort to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The new COC is designed to provide an integrated program that will enhance a patient-centered experience and increase the hospital’s capacity to accommodate an ever increasing number of patients.
The two-story COC, built on 7,360 square meters, features ample space for patient-health worker interactions and creates a welcoming and safe environment for integrated health services for HIV prevention, care and treatment. The facility includes rooms for the provision of HIV care and treatment services for adult and pediatric patients; examinations rooms for tuberculosis (TB) and infectious diseases, medical and surgical outpatient departments, and a casualty unit to support training and care for medical emergencies. The outpatient center also has an ultrasound department, pharmacy, laboratory, and CT scan and MRI rooms.
In addition, the building is fully accessible to people with physical disabilities designed in accordance with the International Building Code (IBC) standards and the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
