The hospital was not spared by the conflict: some patients and members of
the staff of the hospital lost their lives during the evacuation of the more
seriously ill patients. These patients were transferred in the hospital of
Cumura (30 km from Bissau) immediately after the beginning of the
hostilities. In the autumn of 1998, only a year after the beginning of the
management by the Community, the hospital was seized by the Senegalese army,
who turned it into a base. Situated not far from the city centre, on the
road leading to the airport, the building was in the front line of the
fighting and was bombed many times. The wards, the laboratories and the
outpatients' departments were destroyed.




All of the instrumentation, furnishings and equipment have been put out of
service. In addition, the water supply and hygiene services were ruined. The
most worrying fact is that the hospital suffered serious structural damage.
That means that to get it back to working order, approximately 20% must be
torn down and rebuilt, while the remaining 80% must be radically
restructured. Part of the damage, apart from that caused by the bombing and
the presence of the soldiers, was also due to the rain that, in the absence
of any cover, leaked freely into the supporting structures of the hospital
for many months.




The Community of Sant'Egidio took on the task of raising funds for the
reconstruction and rehabilitation of the hospital. The reconstruction of the
buildings began in September 2000.