DIWANIYAH — Local townspeople joined Iraqi and American officials here to mark the opening of the new Jumhoury Primary Healthcare Clinic, March 8.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Abdulameer al-Obaidy, Diwaniyah’s director general of health, thanked the local Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division (GRD), and the Iraqi contractor for their efforts in building such a quality facility.

Ahmed A. Razak, a senior Iraqi deputy resident engineer with GRD, pointed out that the state-of-the-art clinic includes four doctors’ offices with adjoining exam rooms, two dental exam rooms, an x-ray room, a laboratory, a pharmacy, two treatment rooms, and a classroom.

“It is designed to provide basic medical care for this neighborhood’s 15,000 residents, and offers advanced diagnostic and monitoring capabilities for acute and chronic illnesses,” Razak added.

“Building this clinic took cooperation, courage and resolve, especially on the part of those Iraqis who helped design the project, oversaw its construction, and did the hard work of building it,” said Michael Klecheski, the team leader for Diwaniyah’s PRT.

“Constructing facilities such as this one required a partnership between Iraq and the United States,” Klecheski added. “May this clinic always stand as a symbol of what working together can accomplish.”

Throughout Iraq, GRD has completed and turned over 132 primary healthcare clinics to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. The PHCs have the capacity to treat 4.6 million outpatients annually.