ADDIS ABABA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Thursday laid a cornerstone for the construction of first phase of the Medical City Center in Addis Ababa by the Ethio-American Doctors Group at a cost of 110 million U.S. dollars.
The mission of the project is to build an economically sustainable center of excellence hospital that will deliver internationally accredited standard care and become the catalyst of change in how health care is delivered in Ethiopia, the region, and beyond, according to the Ethio-American Doctors Group.
Lying on 150,000 sq. meters of land, it will be a 300-bed state-of-the-art hospital with a full diagnostic center, eight operating rooms, two cath labs, outpatient medical office building with 80 consultation rooms and cancer treatment center.
The hospital, which will provide a full complement of services with clinical focus on cardiovascular, neurological and oncology services with range of invasive procedures, is expected to go fully operational by 2020.
Laying the cornerstone, Hailemariam noted that the hospital would support the government's multifarious activities in the health sector.
Reiterating that Addis Ababa is one of the top world cities in hosting huge number of diplomatic missions, the prime minister said the hospital would serve as a healthcare center for both Ethiopians and foreign nationals residing in the city.
The construction of the hospital in the city also supports the country's economy by helping retain foreign currency spent for medical treatment outside the country, he said, adding that it provides support in capacity building activities in the health sector, said the prime minister.
"When this hospital goes fully operational, I have firm belief that it will help retain foreign exchange outflow from the country," said Hailemariam.
Girma Tefera, Board Chairman of the Ethio-American Doctors Group, told Xinhua that the intention is not only to provide health care but also to train more physicians and share knowledge with other medical personnel beyond the hospital.
"We will use this opportunity to actually train, share knowledge and develop more physicians with additional skills that could go back to spread beyond our hospital," said Girma.
"The intention is not really to create an environment which is just an Iceland but to come up with open mind to support whatever structure is ongoing, train more people, provide care that is not available; and together with other hospital systems in Ethiopia elevate the level of care we provide," he said.
Currently, the Ethio-American Doctors Group largely consists of a consortium of more than 260 physicians.
