Honduras to intensify health infra push next year

Construction of all nine hospitals promised by Honduras' President Xiomara Castro will be underway by April, according to a report. 

One of the facilities is the San Pedro Sula traumatology hospital, for which a bidding process is open and which will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), daily El Heraldo quoted health minister José Manuel Matheu as saying.

The infrastructure and transport ministry (SIT) has also published tenders for the construction of a US$50mn hospital in Choluteca department and for one in Tocoa city, Colón department, both of which will be financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei).

Matheu also said that eight companies are participating in the bidding process to build the Roatán Island hospital. Work on this facility and a neonatal hospital in Copán department will start in 1Q24. 

The construction of Tegucigalpa’s US$53.8mn traumatology hospital, in Francisco Morazán district, is also expected to begin next year, as the ministry said land acquisition is complete. 

Other facilities are planned for Santa Bárbara, Olancho, and Ocotepeque departments, where early works have started under SIT supervision.

Seven hospitals are expected to be finished during the current administration, Matheu said, without specifying which ones. The rest should register completion of 65%. The government term ends in 2026.