Chevron-Liberia, Baylor College of Medicine To Provide Pediatric Health Services To Liberia

Chevron-Liberia Limited, in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, in the United States, has disclosed that in its five-year partnership program with the Government of Liberia, it will provide pediatric health services to the children of Liberia.

The Chevron-Liberia Country Manager, Karl L. Cottrell, said its pediatric health services will involve several hospitals, including the John F. Kennedy Medical Center, and Redemption and St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospitals. He added that the partnership will also include working with the Liberian Government to import and equip laboratories for children health services and the training of laboratory staff.

According to an Executive Mansion release, Mr. Cottrell made the disclosure when a delegation from the Baylor College of Medicine paid a courtesy call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at her Foreign Ministry office.

Senior Vice President of the Retro-virology Section of the Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Michael B. Mizwa, expressed his happiness to be a part of the partnership program, and pledged his institution’s support to the partnership with Chevron and the Government of Liberia to fight child mortality in Liberia. Dr. Mizwa also pledged to make several trips to Liberia, to monitor and enhance the impact of the program on the Liberian people.

Speaking earlier, Health and Social Welfare Minister, Dr. Walter Gwenigale, appealed to Chevron-Liberia to consider establishing a pediatric hospital in Liberia as the company has done in Nigeria and Angola. Responding, Mr. Cottrell observed that the idea was brilliant; but suggested that the appeal be forwarded to Chevron Headquarters in Houston.

For her part, President Sirleaf expressed excitement about the health service delivery partnership and pledged her administration’s willingness to do whatever possible to enhance it. She said that she would like to work with Chevron to see the program expand to other parts of Liberia, building on the success of those facilities currently benefiting from the partnership. The President directed Minister Gwenigale to work with the Baylor College of Medicine and Chevron to fully realize the dream of the partnership.