Gran Hospital del Norte already has a location and construction will begin in 2025

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Statement from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications of Paraguay

This afternoon, in Mburuvicha Róga, the signing of the transfer of the property where the Gran Hospital del Norte will be built was completed, in the city of San Estanislao (Santaní), department of San Pedro, a facility that will benefit no less than 500,000 compatriots.

The event was chaired by the Minister of Public Health, María Teresa Barán, together with her counterpart from Public Works and Communications, Eng. Claudia Centurión and the governor of San Pedro, Freddy D'ecclesiis, whose family owns the property transferred to the Paraguayan State, specifically to the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (MSPyBS).

The venture already has secured financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through a loan of US$60mn that will be presented to the National Congress for approval.

Of those US$60 million, US$30mn will be allocated to construction and the remaining US$30mn to equipping it with state-of-the-art facilities.

In this regard, Minister Centurión explained in a press conference that at this moment they are already committed to forming the Execution Unit to review the existing preliminary project and return to work with the Ministry of Health, which will be the owner of the infrastructure and has to give the blessing on the architectural program and that it responds to the needs and growth projections for the north of the country.

She added that the tender for the work could already be launched in the second semester, once the loan bill enters Parliament, so they estimate that the works would start in 2025.

“We hope that this is already part of other important projects in progress that we have for the benefit of the department of San Pedro, such as the Agroindustrial Corridor between Villa del Rosario and Volendam, the Northern Corridor with Concepción, all of which represents a project of approximately US$150mn in investment,” she explained.

A work that demonstrates that public health is a priority of the National Government

“Thank you to the governor for giving away part of his land for the Gran Hospital del Norte. It is a fundamental step so that we can call for bids. With this construction we will have a capacity where the people of San Pedro will not have the need to travel to the capital to be able to resolve pathologies of medium complexity," said Minister Teresa Barán.

In turn, the governor of San Pedro mentioned that it is 5 hectares that will allow the future healthcare center to be located in a privileged location, and that it has all the basic services, "With this hospital we are not only going to prioritize the health of the inhabitants of San Pedro, we will also be serving the other departments. Today this space is officially concretized, let's get to work,” D'ecclesiis stressed.

It also meant that investing in health is not investing in vain, "it is investing in the future of Paraguayans, in the future of the generations to come so that we can have a healthy generation later."