In the wake of the tragic Beirut blast and the immense strain it has placed on hospitals and medical supplies, the US agency for International Development (USAID) and its Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) will be providing LAU with emergency medical supplies for immediate response efforts and additional funding for new equipment and restorations.

The announcement came from USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa who, along with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy C. Shea, paid a visit to the university on August 11. In a meeting with LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra on Beirut campus, Barsa declared that USAID’s purpose was “to give you the medical capacity you need, and we make this investment in you because we know that you’re helping the people of Beirut and Lebanon.”  

The funding will be directed toward purchasing diagnostic and surgical instruments for LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital and equipping the university’s medical and pharmaceutical labs.

Having assessed the scale of the damage wrought on the city, and the massive humanitarian efforts it entailed, Barsa added that USAID could not be prouder than working with LAU, with whom it has had a longstanding partnership.

Dr. Jabbra expressed his gratitude to Barsa and Ambassador Shea, “but most importantly to the American people,” whose generosity made this possible.

For years now, USAID and ASHA have systematically supported LAU and the hospital. In 2018, the university received a grant for the Higher Education Scholarships Program, and in 2014 ASHA extended another grant the LAU Health Foundation for the rehabilitation of the hospital’s trauma unit and training of medical staff.

Barsa considered it an honor to be leading USAID, he said, “which is basically the focal point for funneling the generosity of the American people.”