1st Lt. Jason A. Sexton
1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment

FORWARD OPERATIN BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan (Feb. 24, 2013) -- Soldiers of Combined Task Force "Wolverine", members of the United States Agency for International Development and the Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktika, visited the site of a new hospital planned to open in Khair Kut Castle in the town of Zarghun Shar, Feb. 23. Others in attendance were engineers from Kabul to certify the building met all safety code measures.

Ghul Nabby, chief doctor for the new hospital and resident of Khair Kut Castle, is excited about the planned opening. The hospital will have twenty beds and will service the people of Zarghun Shar, as well as the nearby towns of Jani Khel and Waziqwa. He says it will allow women the opportunity to get medical care from a female provider close to home and that disease is the most common illness. The simple ability to advise people about how to prevent disease will be a huge success.

The date of the opening is still undetermined but when it happens, it will be the first time residents in this area will have access to government sponsored health care. The residents are optimistic about the opening and anxious to see it soon.

"As education and security continue to improve in Paktika, people are more willing to access government provided healthcare," said Lisa Arthur, field program officer for USAID and PRT Paktika. "The building and opening of the new KKC hospital will give people more opportunities to get quality healthcare."