The Al Mahaweel Primary Healthcare Clinic in Babil Province was recently completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division South district.
BABIL PROVINCE, Iraq (Jan. 9, 2008) —Work is complete on a primary healthcare center at al Mahaweel in Babil Province.
The facility was constructed for about $1 million under two construction contracts and five non-construction contacts, according to Robin Parks, health sector program manager for the Gulf Region South District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
GRS does construction and reconstruction work in the nine southern provinces of Iraq. The money for the clinic was provided under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.
The non-construction contracts provided medical equipment, plus installation and training, as well as electrical generators, furniture and office equipment, Parks said.
"This project will provide a much-needed primary and preventative care facility for the neighborhoods surrounding al Mahaweel, a city of approximately 237,773 in Babil Province," said Maj. Tracy Coleman, resident engineer and officer-in-charge of GRS’s Babil Resident Office, who oversaw the project.
The al Mahaweel project is a 1,155 square meter two-story facility providing for medical/dental examination and treatment with space dedicated for X-rays, vaccinations, laboratory, pharmacy and public education. The clinic will employ an estimated 42 people if fully staffed, Parks said.
The facility is one of the many primary healthcare clinic projects coming to fruition in southern Iraq. This is the second clinic to be completed of the seven in Babil Province being worked by USACE, Coleman said, adding that the other five clinics are very near completion.
Work on about three dozen other health clinics is approaching completion or has been completed in recent months in the GRS area of responsibility.