International Relief Organization Samaritan's Purse Dedicates Baghdad Clinic as Part of Larger Medical Program in Iraq

Samaritan's Purse
Sunday, 20 July 2003

Senior U.S. Administration Official Helps Dedicate Medical Facility that will Serve 40,000 Local Baghdad Residents

As part of a larger initiative to help restore medical services in post-war Baghdad, international relief organization Samaritan's Purse has completed construction of the Al-Saydia Clinic.

Today, Jim Haverman, Adviser to Ministry of Health, joined by local health officials and Dr. Ed Carns of Samaritan's Purse, dedicated the clinic that will immediately begin treating local residents.

The Al-Saydia Clinic is designed to serve 40,000 people in the surrounding neighborhoods. The clinic was under construction when the war began but the builder abandoned the project. At the request of the Minister of Health with the Coalition Provisional Authority, Samaritan's Purse committed $50,000 to hire a local contractor and crews to complete the building.

The clinic will be furnished and equipped from a state-run warehouse and will be staffed by Iraqi doctors and nurses. The 7,500-square foot building includes nine examining rooms including two dental rooms, a pharmacy, lab, X-ray room, reception area, and an ambulance bay.

Over the last nine months, Samaritan's Purse has provided more than $1,000,000 in aid to Baghdad through local partners and an international team that has included U.S. doctors.

Highlights of the relief efforts include:

• In June, Samaritan's Purse brought a cargo jet to Baghdad with more than 16 tons of supplies and equipment to refurbish the Al-Yarmouk Hospital. The airlift included a monitoring system for the critical care unit, equipment and supplies for four operating rooms, a portable X-ray unit, and infant incubators.
• In April, Samaritan's Purse sent a convoy from Jordan to deliver emergency supplies, including enough medicines to meet the basic health needs of 100,000 people for three months. These were distributed to several hospitals and clinics in the Baghdad area. Trucks also brought hundreds of "hygiene kits" for families as well as material to make emergency repairs on damaged homes.
• Since last November, Samaritan's Purse has been supporting partners in Baghdad who provide packages of high-protein food supplements to hundreds of destitute and malnourished families.

Samaritan's Purse works in more than 100 countries around the world to help victims of war, disaster, disease, famine, and poverty. Each of the last three years, Samaritan's Purse has been recognized as the nation's most efficient religious charity in surveys by SmartMoney magazine.

For more information, or to contact Samaritan's Purse, see their website at: www.samaritanspurse.org