U.S. Army Corps Works To Oversee Project
Basrah
Working on projects that benefit children can be very rewarding. Just ask the soldiers and troops in the Gulf Region of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working in the Basrah region in Iraq. “As a civil engineer, where else would you wish to be?” said Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth McDonald. Colonel McDonald is the Area Deputy Commander.
Colonel McDonald extended his tour of duty to successfully see to completion the of the Basrah Children’s Hospital, one of the most complex, detailed and high profile projects that the Corps of Engineers has undertaken in Iraq.
The hospital is constructed and designed to be a pediatric care referral facility, with ninety-four beds and a focus on oncology for children. It will also be a regional training facility for medical personnel for health personnel through the entire Iraq area. In its most basic form, the project is centered on children.
Childhood cancers are five times more likely to strike Iraqi children than kids in the west. There has been controversy in the past about the hospital being a secret CIA headquarters, but each time this has happened local Iraqi Leaders have came together, and put to rest such unfounded rumors.
Colonel McDonald is pleased at the hospital’s progress, and the fact that it will be a shining jewel to the citizens and people of Iraq. The funding for the hospital has come from several sources, including the United Nations, Coalition partners, the government of Iraq, and the United States.
