Paraguay Strengthens Health Services in San Estanislao with IDB Support

The new San Estanislao General Hospital will benefit 90,000 patients per year. 

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Paraguay signed a $60 million loan contract to strengthen health services in the San Estanislao district, in the north of the Eastern Region of Paraguay. Approximately 90,000 users will directly benefit from this project, which includes the design, construction, equipment and commissioning of the San Estanislao General Hospital. 

The contract was signed in Washington, D.C., by the president of the IDB, Ilan Goldfajn, and the minister of economy and finance of Paraguay, Carlos Fernández Valdovinos. The project will focus on expanding the capacity of secondary and tertiary health services, as well as improving the efficiency and quality of healthcare processes. 

“I am very proud to formalize today with Minister Fernandez the construction project of the San Estanislao General Hospital, which will serve 90,000 people annually, expanding the capacity and quality of health services in the Eastern Region of Paraguay,” said President Goldfajn. 

The loan will finance the design, construction, equipment and commissioning of the San Estanislao General Hospital. The hospital will have approximately 150 beds (120 inpatient stations and 30 intensive care), 38 outpatient care stations, a dialysis department with 24 chairs, a day hospital for cancer treatments with 10 stations, 10 delivery rooms, three cesarean section rooms, four operating rooms, a 39-bed emergency department and accommodation for pregnant women and families of intensive-care patients. 

The project will finance the architectural design of the hospital infrastructure, the construction and provision of furniture and equipment in accordance with sustainable and efficient construction criteria, as well as the acquisition of software, connectivity and equipment for telemedicine services, staff training and expansion of the ability to use telediagnoses such as ultrasounds, electrocardiograms, electroencephalograms and computed tomography. Plans for hospital waste management will also be prepared and implemented. 

Likewise, the program will expand access to sexual and reproductive health services for women, care and referral of cases of domestic violence, reduction of mortality from chronic non-communicable diseases, and treatment of high-risk pregnancies. It will also promote the inclusion of people with disabilities by improving access to hospital services, telemedicine and assistive technology support services. The initiative will also reduce gaps in health access for Indigenous communities and ensure compliance with the Indigenous Peoples' Health Act.