NICARAGUA NEWS — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has approved an US$85 million loan to improve the availability and quality of specialized out-patient and hospital care in León, in the western region of Nicaragua.
The program will help to slow down mortality related to chronic diseases and maternal and neo-natal mortality in the region. Western Nicaragua has the highest incidence of chronic kidney disease in the country and accounts for 18 percent of all deaths, compared to six percent at the national level. At the same time, the departments of León and Chinandega suffer from a high rate of deaths of people aged 30 to 49 because of cardiovascular problems, far above the national average.
Most of the new resources will be allocated for construction, equipment and management updating at the new Hospital Escuela Oscar Danilo Rosales Argüello (HEODRA).
HEODRA is a regional hospital, which leads the network of services in the western region. It is estimated that 75 percent of the current infrastructure is in poor condition, weakening its capacity to respond to people’s health needs.
The new HEODRA will feature 346 beds, eight operating rooms, 34 out-patient offices and a maintenance plan that ensures the sustainability of the investment. A hospital information system will be implemented to support organizational and management innovations. The goal is for the hospital to offer specialized services, boast high-quality clinical departments with up to date technology and adequate and skilled staff to serve the population better.
Financing will be provided for the new hospital to optimize its integration in the network with the supply of equipment, rehabilitation or extension of the primary care units so they can deal with the demand that they are supposed to handle. The project all calls for the strengthening of the Center for Maintenance of Medical Teams at the national level.
The program aims to improve kidney health by developing a project offering education and prevention, health care workers’ training and review of protocols. A national registry of kidney patients will be created and a kidney transplant unit will be created.
The resources in the operation come in equal parts from the IDB’s ordinary capital and its Fund for Special Operations. The government of Nicaragua will contribute an estimated US$5,6 million, for an overall cost of US$90,6.
Source: Ministerio de Salud (Nicaraguan Health Ministry); Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
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