[Santo Domingo] – The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Southern Command, has donated 50 brand-new, state-of-the-art ventilators and two field hospitals to the Dominican Republic to assist in its fight against COVID-19 and in support of disaster relief operations. The donations combined are worth $1.85 million and represent how the U.S. and Dominican Republic are working together to combat the pandemic.
“As the leading country providing assistance in global health and humanitarian assistance, the United States makes this donation to the Dominican Republic as a clear demonstration of our commitment to support the country to combat COVID-19 and shows our strong partnership as the U.S. remains Dominican Republic’s number one ally.” said U.S. Ambassador Robin S. Bernstein. “With these ventilators more Dominican hospitals will be able to provide potentially life-saving care to infected patients that have developed respiratory complications, while the field hospitals increase the Dominican Government’s ability to rapidly deploy medical staff and equipment to care for those in need of assistance during disaster relief operations or a health crisis.”
Vice President and Coordinator of the Health Cabinet Raquel Peña received the donations on behalf of the Dominican Government as she stated, “It is an honor to receive this demonstration of solidarity, which will be of great help to fulfill the goals established by our President Luis Abinader and with which we, the Health Cabinet, seek to guarantee the well-being of the Dominican people. With this donation we will work to broaden and enhance our capacity to respond to this crisis throughout our nation and continue to provide timely, inclusive and quality care for every Dominican man and woman who is currently experiencing the severe effects of COVID-19.”
USAID, in coordination with the Vice Ministry of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD) donated the ventilators to the National Health Service for distribution among its network from USAID, were produced in the United States and reflect leading-edge and in-demand technology. They are compact, deployable, and provide the Dominican Republic with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus. For those who develop respiratory complications due to COVID-19, this vital resource may prove life-saving. The ventilators are being distributed by SNS to thirteen hospitals in ten provinces in the Dominican Republic.
The two field hospitals, donated to the Emergency Operations Center, will also receive four (4) ventilators each and have the capacity for 40 beds each. The donation is part of the United States Southern Command’s Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) and the total donation of the two hospitals is $950,000.
The director of the Emergency Operations Center (R) Major General Attorney Dr. Juan Manuel Méndez García highlighted the support received from the U.S. Embassy and the Southern Command to the organization. He said that this helps strengthen a better organized response on an issue that is of interest and significant importance for the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, and his current administration.
This donation builds on nearly $3.7 million that the U.S. State Department and USAID have committed to the Dominican Republic in response to the pandemic, which is helping to strengthen clinical care, disseminate health messages, build lab capacity, improve disease surveillance, and more. For decades, the United States has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in health. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance.
- Learn more about the ventilators [Spanish] (PDF, 2MB)
- Learn more about the hospital tents [Spanish] (PDF, 3MB)
