Riga, August 19, 2014 – On August 20, 2014, U.S. Embassy Riga Chargé d’Affaires Sharon Hudson-Dean; U.S. Brigadier General Kevin McNeely, Deputy Director Strategy, Policy, and Programming, U.S. European Command; Chairman of the Saeima Solvita Aboltina; Mayor of Kurzeme Regional Council Inga Berziņa; and Director of the Latvian State Emergency Medical Service Mr. Armands Ploriņs will participate in an opening ceremony of the reconstructed Kurzeme Regional Dispatch Center in Kuldīga.
The new Dispatch Center is located in the renovated Kuldīga city hospital building and will operate 24-hours per day, serving 262,000 residents of the Kurzeme region. Funding of 991,012.29 USD for the reconstruction was provided by the U.S. European Command’s Civic Engagement Program and implemented by the U.S. Embassy Riga Office of Defense Cooperation.
The project brought together Latvia’s State Emergency Medical Service, Kuldīga Hospital, the U.S. European Command, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Embassy Office of Defense Cooperation to reconstruct and strengthen the foundations of an abandoned building, provide equipment and furniture, and develop center that will serve as a hub for 25 medical brigades located in 15 different locations throughout the Kurzeme region.
The Kurzeme Regional Dispatch Center is the first project financially supported by the U.S. European Command’s Civic Engagement Program with the State Emergency Medical Service. Currently, two other projects in Riga are being supported and implemented under the same program – construction of a maintenance garage for the Riga Regional Management and Dispatch Center and reconstruction of the Brigade Support Center “Krasts”.
The Kurzeme Regional Dispatch Center opening ceremony will start at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 20, at Aizputes Street 22, Kuldīga. The event is open to media; journalists interested in covering the event should plan to arrive no later than 10:45 a.m.
For more information or interview opportunities, please contact the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section.
