The Debre Berhan Referral Hospital is becoming a teaching hospital, with the addition of a new four-storey building.
The 75-year-old hospital, in the Northern Shewa Zone of Amhara, has 130 beds and serves up to 2.4 million patients a year, in addition to 700 outpatients coming from three regions; Northern Amhara, Northern Oromia and Afar.
The new building, which will have 350 rooms and six operation theatres, is expected to cost six million Birr – to be equally distributed between the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Amhara regional government, according to an official of the Hospital. The design is underway by Leoul Consulting Architects & Engineers Plc.
“In order to give efficient service to the residents, the hospital needs to be upgraded,” Amir Aman Hagos, (MD, MPH), State Minister for Health, told Fortune, affirming the Ministry’s involvement in the expansion.
A week ago, the hospital inaugurated a renovated five million Birr laboratory, funded by the United States Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and I-Tech Ethiopia, in partnership with the Amhara Regional Health Bureau.
The new laboratory will perform disease surveillance for HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculoses (TB) and other opportunistic and tropical diseases.
“The renovation of the laboratory facility and the upcoming new building will serve as a training site for professionals and a hub for operational research,” Feseha Tadesse, (PhD), a Medical Director at the Hospital, told Fortune.
The construction of the building will commence in the coming year and is expected to be completed within four years.
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