Tambacounda Hospital has 150 beds and treats approximately 9,000 patients annually, most often for malaria and respiratory infections. Because Tambacounda is a crossroads of major international routes, in a country where the roads are in bad condition and often dangerous, its emergency room treats, each month, some 300 victims of car accidents. The hospital also takes in patients who need levels of medical care that cannot be provided at smaller clinics in the region, including those supported by Le Korsa in the villages of Sinthian and Fass.
Description of project by Manuel Herz Architects
Tambacounda Hospital is the only hospital in a large region of eastern Senegal. It serves the 100,000 inhabitants of the city of Tambacounda - declared the hottest metropolis on the planet - and more than a million people from the surrounding region and Mali, whose border is about an hour and a half away.
The new maternity and pediatric clinic at Tambacounda Hospital is a two-storey, curvilinear building. It combines the two clinics - pediatrics and maternity - in the same building. It is located to the north of the existing pediatric clinic and revolves around it, then changes direction to create a new, semi-closed, north-facing courtyard. The curvilinear layout creates a building with sensual quality while ensuring that almost no trees need to be cut for its construction.
On the ground floor are the main parts of the maternity ward and the operations unit. One floor higher, we find the remaining rooms of the patients of the maternity and the pediatric clinic. The existing building of the former pediatric clinic will be converted into a home, office, and consultation space for both clinics. The existing building is connected to the new building by a short covered walkway.
