USAID and Ministry of Health Improve Safe Mother Services in Jordan Valley through Renovations of the Obstetrics and Neonatal Departments in South Shouneh Hospital

January 30, 2012

USAID and Ministry of Health Improve Safe Mother Services in Jordan Valley through Renovations of the Obstetrics and Neonatal Departments in South Shouneh Hospital

South Shouneh – With the aim of improving the quality of and access to safe motherhood services in the agricultural village of South Shouneh, Dr. Ahmad Qtetat, Director of Hospital Administration, deputizing for the Minister of Health, and Douglas Ball, Deputy USAID Mission Director to Jordan inaugurated on January 29, the newly renovated neonatal and obstetrics departments at South Shouneh Hospital.

 “We are proud to be recipients of this tremendous gift since it will help us provide essential services to our patients,” commented Dr. Said Al Kharabshe, the Director of the Shouneh hospital that serves 70,000 people and delivers over a thousand children a year.
Prior to the renovation works, the neonatal and obstetrics departments covered an area of 132 square meters of the South Shouneh Hospital and had a capacity of 12 beds and 6 incubators. Through the USAID-funded Health Systems Strengthening II (HSS II) project, the departments were expanded an increased capacity of 16 beds in the obstetrics department and 14 incubators in the neonatal department.

The newly renovated departments are now equipped with lifesaving medical equipment and state of the art furniture which are crucial to the safety and quality of the services provided to the women and newborns of South Shouneh. The upgraded departments will now assist the hospital staff in managing high risk pregnancies/deliveries and will eliminate referrals to hospitals outside the area.
“Together, we have been successful in expanding access to and improving the quality of high priority health care services, especially obstetric, neonatal, and emergency health care,” remarked Mr. Ball, during the inauguration ceremony.

Renovation of South Shouneh Hospital started in February 2011 and was completed by October 2011 with a total cost of around $1.6 million and an additional $400,000 for equipment and furniture. The improvements aim at creating a safe and pleasant environment for both staff and patients and enabling providers to expand high quality obstetric and neonatal health care services thus reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity.

The HSS II project will continue working with the Ministry of Health to complete emergency, obstetrics and neonatal department renovations in another 17 hospitals by the end of 2014. Renovation of health facilities in Jordan is only one of USAID’s main mandates.  USAID’s primary objective is to help improve the health status of all Jordanians by supporting the government of Jordan to strengthen and institutionalize health care delivery systems by improving coverage and access to needed services to all citizens and providing them with high-quality and client-oriented care.