Luanda, ANGOLA, September 12 - Angolan head of state João Lourenço inaugurated Saturday the new Provincial Hospital of the central Bié province "Dr. Walter Strangway", with capacity for 250 beds. ,

The new hospital unit cost 48.6 million euros from a financing line French bank Société Générale and will provide assistance to patients from the Central and South regions of Angola.

The inauguration of the infrastructure, built in two years and six months, was attended by the first lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, by heads of ministerial departments and the governor of Bié, Pereira Alfredo.

Located five kilometers south of the Cuito (headquarters of the province of Bié), the new hospital unit occupies an area of ​​50 thousand square meters.

The hospital will be secured by 1,019 professionals, including 96 doctors, 609 nurses, 96 diagnostic and therapeutic specialists, 141 hospital support technicians and 77 administrative staff.

Among the professionals, there are specialists of the Angolan and Cuban nationality from the segments of Nephrology, Pathological Anatomy, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Orthopedics / Traumatology, Psychiatry, Intensivist / Anesthesia and Rehabilitation.

There are also specialties in internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, cardiology, hemodialysis, nephrology, ophthalmology and intensive care unit.

The hospital also has complementary services for exams in the specialties of gynecology-obstetrics, neonatology, neurology, pathological anatomy, gastroenterology, imaging, psychiatry, stomatology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, clinical laboratory, as well as an operating room with five rooms.

It also has a morgue with the services of preserving corpses and autopsies and six semi-detached houses for accommodation of doctors, with a view to setting up an anatomy and physiological laboratory.

The designation of the new Bié Provincial Hospital is a tribute to Canadian missionary and doctor Walter Earl Strangway, who for 40 years (1928 - 1968) worked at the Chissamba Hospital, in the municipality of Catabola, about 52 kilometers east of Cuito.

Walter Earl Strangway, treated affectionately by "Strângula" by Angolans, made a name for himself by performing 40,000 surgeries, some of which were touchy, and was famous for his work with lepers.

Born in Petrolia, Ontario, the doctor, who worked at the Missionary Hospital of Chissamba, also excelled in training nurses, building a hospital with 140 beds and creating 43 medical centers in some villages in the region.

Pioneer in the health sector in Catabola, Walter Strangway was notable for the fact that, with few resources, he provided a great service to the population of Catabola.