The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $53.8 million loan to build a new hospital in Honduras that will improve trauma and emergency care services both in the capital Tegucigalpa and the central-southeast region of the country.
Through the construction of this hospital and an improvement in health care services, the plan will boost living standards and enhance care for patients with external injuries, in addition to easing the workload at the University Hospital.
Injuries with an external cause are now one of the main public health problems in Honduras. They have become the main cause of Years of Life Lost due to premature death, followed by chronic illnesses such as cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and complications in childbirth and with newborns. Externally caused injuries are now the second most frequent reason for people being hospitalized and cared for in public hospital emergency rooms and one of the main causes of disability.
This project will finance the construction of a new trauma hospital to fill the gap of 150 beds needed to care for patients with this kind of injury in Tegucigalpa and the central-southeast part of the country. It is an alternative that would cost less than enlarging the existing University Hospital.
What is more, in order to enhance the network of hospitals in the central-southeast part of the country, the initiative will finance the implementation of telemedicine systems including telediagnosis, teleconsultations, and the reading and discussion of diagnoses with images presented by radiology specialists. There will also be an automated system to record patient care, e-case files, electronic prescriptions, a system of electronic monitoring of ambulances and development of devices to manage hospital beds and surgery waiting lists.
The loan totals $53.8 million, of which $32.2 million come from the regular ordinary IDB capital over 25 years, with a grace period of five and a half years and an interest rate pegged to the Libor. The other $21.5 million come from concessional ordinary capital to be paid back over 40 years, with a grace period of 40 years and an interest rate of 0.25%.
Original source: IADB
Published on 12 December 2018
