Chinese Government provides grant for Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital Construction Project

Project narrative

In April 2008, the Chinese Government and the Government of Sierra Leone signed letters of exchange for the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital Construction Project. China’s Ministry of Commerce committed grant funding for this project, but the monetary value of this grant commitment is unknown. This project involved the construction of a modern hospital in Jui — a town located just outside the east end of the Freetown city limits — with 100 beds, a hostel for the Chinese medical team, an equipment room, a laboratory, theaters, dialysis and intensive care units, surgical and medical departments, a mortuary, a funeral parlor, andX-Ray department, and other facilities. Anhui Construction Engineering Group (安徽建工集团有限) was the contractor responsible for implementation. In April 2009, the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital was held. Construction began on July 16, 2009 and ended in March 2011. On May 13, 2011, the Chinese government officially handed over the new hospital to the government of Sierra Leone. Then, on March 26, 2012, Linqu Qushan Hospital of Shandong Province signed an agreement with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation, which allows the Chinese staff from Linqu Qushan Hospital to operate the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital. (塞拉利昂政府与山东临朐朐山医院就经营我援塞新医院签订合作协议). In November 2012, President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, opened and commissioned the hospital.