Contact: Jared G. Young

BAGHDAD, IRAQ Contact: Jared G. Young 1-914-360-7441 CPA PROVIDES EQUIPMENTTO IRAQ HOSPITAL Baghdad – September 13, 2003 – The U.S. led Coalition Provisional Authority, under the direction of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, today provided $100,000 worth of critical medical equipment to the al Hussein Hospital in Arashidia, Iraq just north of Baghdad. CPA Ministry of Health Senior Advisor James Haveman said, “We have found that the former regime spent most of their healthcare funds in the large cities, leaving rural areas largely neglected. The Ministry of Health believes quality health care should be available in all areas of Iraq and to all Iraqis. This donation to the al Hussein rural hospital represents our commitment to providing quality care.” “We appreciate Ambassador Bremer’s help,” Dr. Khalid Al Saidi, the hospital’s head physician said. “Our hospital hopes to provide good services to the people of area. We are the only facility for forty kilometers and we serve the 250,000 people of the area. The generator will be most helpful. Without it, our operating room is not able to properly function.” The equipment will significantly enhance the intensive care monitoring of patients at the al Hussein hospital. The equipment includes three electrocardiography (ECG) recorders, one defibrillator, three ECG blood pressure monitors and three pulse oximeters. A generator is scheduled to be installed at the hospital in the near future. The ECG recorders will provide enhanced monitoring of cardiac patients, and the defibrillator will help restore a regular heartbeat to patients with an unstable cardiac rhythm. The ECG blood pressure monitors will allow clinicians to monitor the blood pressure and cardiac rhythm of unstable patients, and the Pulse oximeters will allow clinicians to monitor the patient’s oxygenation status non-invasively. Additionally, the generator will provide back-up power for continuous care capabilities. The hospital is named for Sayed Hussein al-Sadr, the Imam of the Kadhim Mosque in Kadhemiya – the fifth most holy Shia shrine in Iraq.