US Embassy donates mobile field hospital to Belize Health Ministry

The US Embassy in Belmopan and the US Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM) have donated a state-of-the-art mobile field hospital to Belize with the aim of supporting the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by the US SOUTHCOM’s Humanitarian Assistance Program, the hospital is valued at 1.1 million US dollars. It will be further supplemented with installation and training for medical professionals in Belize.

The hospital is fully equipped with 40 beds, generators and air-conditioning units to provide necessary treatment to critically-ill COVID-19 patients across the country.

“#WeStandWithBelize and are committed to supporting its public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and future challenges wherever those challenges arise,” US Southern Command posted on Facebook.

Accepting the donation, Belize Minister of Health and Wellness Michel Chebat said that the support has come at a time when the country is facing increasing cases of COVID-19 infections. Chebat noted that the donation will help the country’s health sector in controlling the surge in infections and ease the pressure on the already-overwhelmed Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

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“We’ve had a partnership with the United States Government for many years. Our partnership with health goes back at least twenty years and so this is just another example of the solidarity we’ve had from the US government and people of the Unites States of America,” he added.

Furthermore, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy Leyla Moses-Ones hailed the donation as another pillar of Washington’s continuous commitment to help Belize in its response against the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises.

Leyla Moses-Ones highlighted that through US Southern Command, Washington has directed $17 million to more than 28 countries including Belize in their efforts to overcome the repercussions of the pandemic. Charge’ Moses-Ones further expressed the US Government’s continuous commitment to help partners in the western hemisphere.

“We’re very proud partners here to be part of this donation, this field hospital is a $1.1 million dollar donation. It doesn’t have to be just used for COVID it could be used for any kind of humanitarian emergency so it has a lot of flexibility for use now and in the future,” she added. The US Government also dedicated one hundred thousand Belize dollars’ worth of medical supplies to the Ministry of Health and Wellness to support the medical professionals in treating COVID-19 patients.