Riga, July 20, 2015 – On Tuesday, July 21, U.S. Embassy Riga Chargé d’Affaires Sharon Hudson-Dean, Deputy Director of Healthcare Department of Latvian Ministry of Health Biruta Kleina, and Director of State Emergency Medical Service (SEMS) Armands Ploriņš will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of an emergency vehicle garage at the District Ambulance Support Station (DASS) ‘Krasts’ in Riga.
U.S. European Command’s Civic Engagement program, which funded the project with 782,000 USD, will work together with Latvia’s Ministry of Health, the State Emergency Medical Service, LLC “Healthcare Real Estate”, Veselības Centrs 4, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Embassy Office of Defense Cooperation to reconstruct an unused section of a building, construct a new vehicle garage, and provide equipment and furniture. The new center will be a hub for eight medical teams servicing an area of 408 square kilometers and 217,000 people in the Latgale priekspilseta, Salaspils, Baldones and Stopini regions. DASS ‘Krasts’, which currently is located in four different locations in the region, will consolidate its operations into the new facility. The new center will offer a comfortable work environment for staff, a garage for parking and maintenance of emergency medical service vehicles, and warehouse space.
The DASS ‘Krasts’ is the second SEMS project financially supported by the U.S. European Command’s Civic Engagement program. Last August, SEMS constructed the Kurzeme Regional Dispatcher Center at a cost of 991,000 USD. Another project at the Regional Management and Dispatch Center in Riga, Duntes iela, is slated to begin in the next few months. That project’s estimated cost is 235,000 USD.
NOTE TO THE EDITOR:
The groundbreaking ceremony will start at 14:00 on Tuesday, July 21, at Grebenščikova iela 1, Rīga (entrance from Pirts iela). The ceremony will include placing a time capsule into the foundation and remarks from Chargé d’Affaires Sharon Hudson-Dean. The event is open to media. Please plan to arrive no later than 13:45.
For more information or interview opportunities, please contact the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section.
