Easing pressure on 'Cottage Hospital' in the east of Freetown, a new Maternal, and Child health hospital formally commissioned on Thursday 17th October 2019 and opened to Sierra Leonean populace in a bid to protect and save the lives of pregnant women, lactating mothers, and their infants. The new King Harman Maternal and Child Hospital located at Brookfields in the West part of Freetown.

The old Cottage hospital long since exceeded capacity; this prompted the new hospital to be constructed by the Government of Sierra Leone in partnership with the United Nations Food Program (UNFPA) with funds from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) under the Saving Lives Program.

The new King Harman Maternal and Child Hospital was commissioned and formally declared opened by President Julius Maada Bio.

Addressing the gathering and the general public, the President commended DfID for providing the support to construct and equip the new hospital.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation to provide the staff required training in maternal, new-born, and child health to ensure the hospital fulfilled its mandate. The human resource in health increase to the present number of health staff by 4,000. And, the national budget allocation to health from 8.9 to 11.6%.

Addressing access to quality healthcare and in health facilities, the government had commissioned and operationalized the National Emergency Medical Services in all districts in the country with over 4,000 referrals to date. Committed to improving diagnostic capacity, the government had allocated a budget to establish the National Medical Diagnostic and Treatment Center.

Improving the status of hospitals across the country, the government will invest in new construction and equip hospitals across the country. One of such is the King Harman Hospital, which provides secondary level care to the people of this community and its environs, President Bio stated.

Minister of Health and Sanitation, Professor Alpha Tejan Wurie, said that the event was the start of getting a reliable and efficient health sector that would be capable of providing quality healthcare delivery to the people of Sierra Leone. He commended the President for the gains achieved so far in the health sector, saying that 2020 would see a turnaround for the health sector.

The British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Simon Mustard, said that the partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom built on shared history and deep connections. And that the hospital would protect and save the lives of mothers and their infants.