Outside Bahia’s Hospital do Surburbio, all seems tranquil: white stucco buildings, manicured lawns, and palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze. Inside, it’s another story.
The hospital, a state-of-the-art medical facility, has provided more than 1.8 million medical procedures since opening in 2010, offering much needed health care services to low-income families in Salvador, Bahia.
Hospital do Suburbio, a public-private partnership assisted by the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has also created 1,200 local jobs in a successful business model that six other Brazilian states have begun to adopt.
Results-driven and client oriented, the medical facility has been named one world’s most innovative projects by global consulting firm KPMG.
“This is an example of what we can do by working with the state and bringing the expertise of the private sector to provide high quality health services to those without access”, said World Bank Group President Jim Kim after touring the facilities.
Salvador was Kim’s first stop in a three-day official visit to Brazil. He said he’d made the northeastern state his first port of call because the Bank’s partnership with the state of Bahia “reflects well the vision and results that we can achieve together, with one shared goal: helping reduce poverty, while creating opportunities for all citizens.”
Kim was accompanied by Governor Jaques Wagner, and International Financial Corporation CEO Jin-Yong Cai.