Germany grants financial assistance to re-construct local maternity hospital

Mahamodara Maternity Hospital is being reconstructed with the financial assistance from KfW, a state-owned development bank in Germany.

KfW has initially extended a loan of Euro 28 mn to complete the reconstruction work of the hospital which was initiated by a grant from the Helmut Kohl Foundation.

Further, KfW has extended a supplementary loan of Euro 13 mn to cover the cost escalation and additional requirements of the hospital. The construction work of the hospital is nearing completion and it is expected that the hospital could be commissioned in mid-2020.

Meanwhile, the German Government has agreed to provide a grant of Euro 2.1 mn to be utilized for technical assistance. Areas of technical assistance financed by the grant will include support to the introduction of a Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) (incl. procurement and installation of hardware and software as well as staff training in line with the national HMIS); support to the strengthening of the hospital equipment and building maintenance systems (incl. the development and introduction of maintenance plans, training of maintenance technicians and medical staff, procurement of maintenance equipment); support to the strengthening of the quality management system with a particular focus on highly sensitive areas such as intensive care and hospital hygiene; and provision of training and further education of medical staff through twinning arrangements with international hospitals.

R.M.P. Rathnayake, Director General, Department of External Resources signed the inter-government agreement and grant agreement (financing agreement) on 17 December 2019 on behalf of Government of Sri Lanka respectively with German Government and KfW. Jorn Rohde, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Ms. Andreas Godon, Principal Project Manager, KfW Development Bank signed the agreements on behalf of German Government and KfW.