Amman (June 11, 2017) – With support from the United States, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWH) today inaugurated the four-story Princess Rahma Pediatric Hospital Expansion, which will increase the capacity of the hospital by 35 percent.

The inauguration ceremony was held at the hospital in Irbid under the patronage of His Excellency the Prime Minister Hani Al Mulki, His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Al-Sheyyab, Minister of Health, His Excellency Eng. Sami Halaseh, Minister of Public Works and Housing, and the Acting Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Wade Warren.

The two-year, $8.5 million project was financed by USAID and built through contracts managed by MPWH. The expansion includes additional operating theaters, intensive care unit (ICU) beds and patient wards. An additional second phase of the Princess Rahma Hospital Project will include the $5.5 million renovation of the existing hospital, a former nursing school converted to a pediatric hospital and in need of renovation and upgrade.

“The United States is now providing over $80 million to help Jordan deliver better maternal, child, and reproductive health services to its population,” said Administrator Warren. “Our investment in health represents just one part of our broader partnership with Jordan in economic growth, water, education and civil society. Jordan is now USAID’s largest program in the world, currently valued at $812 million.”

The project fulfills the objectives of the Ministry of Health, which is dedicating to ensuring access to healthcare for the children who are Jordan’s future.

Projects like Princess Rahma continue a history of U.S.-Jordanian cooperation in the health sector that includes building over 25 new hospital departments, and spending approximately $275 million on health programming in Jordan over the past 10 years. The United States Government, through USAID, has provided foreign assistance from the American people to Jordan for more than 60 years.