Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (LION)

04 December 2018

November 14, 2018. Lilongwe, Malawi. The foundation stone laying ceremony of a new hospital, the Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) marks the official start of construction on the new facility.

Mrs. Grace Mkupu, LION Trust Chair, provided a word of welcome to the crowd gathered for this important milestone in the care of the injured in Malawi. All commented on the game-changing opportunity this new state-of-the-art hospital will provide. The hospital looks to have an initial capacity of 80 patients, with an Accident & Emergency room and four operating theatres.

Construction is set to be finished in the latter part of 2020. Dr Sven Young, originally from Bergen, Norway, permanent staff member and orthopedic surgeon at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, but who has lived and worked at KCH for the last 10 years and who has been the driving force behind the LION project, emphasized the need for both phases of the Institute to be completed in time.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were His Excellency Mr. Steinar Egil Hagen (Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi); a delegation from Haukeland University Hospital (HUH) in Bergen, including CEO Mr. Eivind Hansen, former CEO Mr. Stener Kvinnsland, and Mr. Jon Wigum Dahl, Head of the Department of International Collaboration.

HUH has a longstanding relationship with KCH in capacity building, education and exchange fellowships. Dr Claude Martin jr., Managing Director of AO Alliance from Switzerland, was also in attendance, as well as Dr Uma Grob, LION Trust Board member.