Honors Former Presidents for Maintaining the Liberia-Germany Partnership
Monrovia, Liberia – The newly built Grand Gedeh County Hospital on the outskirts of Zwedru City has been dedicated on Thursday by Vice President Jeremiah Koung, who hailed it as a long-awaited development for Southeast healthcare delivery.
German Ambassador Dr. Jakob Haselhuber, Health Minister Dr. Louis Kpoto, Senator Thomas Yaya Nimely, members of the Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, Superintendent Alex Grant, and former Superintendent Peter Solo, who acquired the first site in 2015, were among the high-ranking officials and development partners present.
VP Koung honored former Liberian leaders whose deeds maintained the country’s development partnership with Germany. President William R. Tolbert, whose administration signed a significant bilateral agreement between Liberia and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972; Presidents Samuel K. Doe and Charles Taylor for preserving diplomatic continuity; Interim President Gyude Bryant, who reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to Liberia’s post-war recovery; President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, whose administration signed the 2015 agreement to strengthen health systems; and President George M. Weah, whose leadership development started in 2019.
The hospital is the main product of a €15 million Health Infrastructure Package between Germany and Liberia that was signed in 2015 to rehabilitate health services in the southeast following the Ebola outbreak.
Major improvements in Sinoe and River Gee counties, such as new clinics, maternal units, and the sole fully functional isolation center in the area in Fish Town, were also made possible by the funding, which was supplied by KfW and carried out by Welthungerhilfe (WHH).
Serving over 160,000 patients in the Southeast, the Grand Gedeh County Hospital is a secondary-level facility with 160 beds. It has 8,513.84 square meters in size and has an emergency room, outpatient services, maternity ward, operating room, lab, neonatal unit, isolation areas, pharmacy, and inpatient wards.
A water tower, generator house, incinerator, mortuary, laundry unit, drainage and erosion-control buildings, administrative offices, and public waiting spaces are examples of support systems. The dedication, according to local authorities, is a historic milestone that represents years of preparation, cross-government cooperation, and ongoing cooperation between Liberia and Germany.
