If you live in Taounate and need medical care, help should soon be closer and easier to access. A big programme is underway to improve hospitals and clinics across the province. In total, 41 projects worth 1.54bn dirhams are planned as part of Morocco’s wider health reform. The focus is on more hospitals, better local clinics, more doctors and modern digital tools.
Most of the money will go into building four hospitals, adding 255 beds by 2028.
A new 120-bed provincial hospital in Taounate is already being built, along with a 45-bed local hospital in Tissa. Two more hospitals in Ghafsai and Kariat Ba Mohamed are still at the design stage.
Right now, the province has one hospital bed for every 5,296 people. The national average is much better at one bed per 1,283 people, so the gap is clear.
Smaller health centres are also getting attention. About 165m dirhams is being used to renovate 33 primary care facilities.
Work on 11 centres and dispensaries in areas such as Tissa, Tahar Souk, Ourtzagh and Ouedka has finished. They are now being equipped and prepared to open.
Another 15m dirhams is funding new equipment for the current provincial hospital, including operating theatres, imaging machines and anaesthesia equipment.
The existing provincial hospital is already very busy. It handled more than 37,900 emergency visits, 18,000 specialist consultations and 1,048 surgeries. Dialysis is also a priority, with 61 patients receiving more than 7,000 sessions.
Private healthcare helps fill the gap, with two clinics offering 45 beds, along with pharmacies, doctors’ offices, labs and physiotherapy centres.
The public health sector currently has 615 staff, including 72 medical professionals. Plans include 35 new specialist jobs in areas like heart care, surgery, mental health, maternity care and children’s health.
By 2028, officials expect these projects, plus shared medical records and telemedicine, to significantly improve healthcare and bring services closer to national standards.
