Uqayribat Health Centre Rehabilitation

Uqayribat Health Centre, in the town of Uqayribat east of Salamiyah in the eastern Hama countryside, is being rehabilitated as part of the Fidaa li-Hama campaign. The project aims to bring primary health care back to the town and the surrounding villages as residents return.

Launch in November 2025

Hama Governor Abdulrahman al-Sahyan launched the rehabilitation of the centre on 24 November 2025, and the Hama Health Directorate began works the same day, according to SANA and Al-Fidaa newspaper. Hama Health Director Dr. Nazih al-Ghawi said the works also include the village's maternity centre, which is to be provided with an ambulance system. According to Al-Fidaa, Hama Governorate said the centre would serve about 50,000 people and include specialised obstetrics and reproductive health departments.

Halt and Resumption in April 2026

Works later stopped after war remnants, landmines and explosives were found in and around the centre, and Ministry of Defence engineering teams were called in to clear them, supervising engineer Abdullah Harraq told SANA. Works resumed on 8 April 2026. The Hama Health Directorate had recently raised the centre's classification to level C3 because of its importance to a large number of residents, which required improvements to some structural works and a new study and contract. Harraq estimated that the rehabilitation would take two months, after which the centre would be handed over to the Hama Health Directorate.

Enab Baladi reported in April 2026 that the Emergency Response Foundation had started the rehabilitation works. In February 2026, Uqayribat municipal council head Hafez al-Hammoud told Al-Fidaa that the Emergency Response team was rehabilitating a ten-room dispensary with a natural-delivery unit in the town. Rasha Maghmuma of the Engineering Studies Department at the Hama Health Directorate told Enab Baladi in April 2026 that delays were caused by procedures with the implementing organisation and by difficulties in finding workers in such a remote area.

Population Served

Estimates of the population served differ by source. At the launch in November 2025, Hama Governorate put it at about 50,000 people. SANA reported in April 2026 that the centre serves residents of about 70 villages and farms. Rasha Maghmuma told Enab Baladi the same month that it serves about 80 surrounding villages that lack health centres, home to some 60,000 people, making it the only medical point available to them. According to Maghmuma, the centre covers 400 square metres, its design takes the needs of people with disabilities into account, and it is being fitted with the necessary equipment and services.

Health Care While Works Continue

In September 2025, the Hama Health Directorate and INTERSOS opened a medical point in Uqayribat in two rooms of a damaged building, staffed by a resident nurse and a doctor who visits weekly, Al-Fidaa reported. In April 2026, municipal head Hafez al-Hammoud told Enab Baladi that local health care came down to a single dispensary that needs rehabilitation and has one nurse.

The mukhtar of al-Mukaymin village told Enab Baladi in April 2026 that emergency cases have to travel about 50 kilometres to hospitals in Salamiyah or 80 kilometres to Hama city. A resident of Uqayribat told SANA the same month that the nearest hospital is in Salamiyah, about 35 kilometres away, and called for the centre to be provided with an ambulance, medical and nursing staff and enough medicines once it opens.

Funding and Oversight

According to Maghmuma, the Fidaa li-Hama campaign is covering the full budget of the project, while the Hama Health Directorate oversees quantities and disbursements. She said a field assessment and a technical study preceded the works, which draw on local labour. Hama Governorate launched the campaign in November 2025, and it raised donations estimated at about $210 million to support reconstruction in affected areas of the governorate, according to SANA.

Next Phase: Staffing and Equipment

Once rehabilitation is complete, the Health Directorate plans to recruit new doctors and supply the centre with medical devices and medicines so that it can offer most essential health services, Maghmuma said. She added that new health centres cannot currently be built in other villages because no land has been allocated to the health sector.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the rehabilitation works start?

The project was launched on 24 November 2025. Works later stopped while war remnants and mines were cleared, and resumed on 8 April 2026, according to SANA.

How many people does Uqayribat Health Centre serve?

Estimates vary: about 50,000 people according to Hama Governorate in November 2025, about 70 villages and farms according to SANA in April 2026, and about 80 villages with some 60,000 residents according to Rasha Maghmuma of the Hama Health Directorate, speaking to Enab Baladi the same month.

How far is the nearest hospital?

Accounts differ. The mukhtar of al-Mukaymin village told Enab Baladi in April 2026 that emergency cases travel about 50 kilometres to hospitals in Salamiyah or 80 kilometres to Hama city, while a resident of Uqayribat told SANA the same month that the nearest hospital is in Salamiyah, about 35 kilometres away.

What is the size of the centre and who is funding the works?

The centre covers 400 square metres. The Fidaa li-Hama campaign is covering the full budget, with the Hama Health Directorate overseeing quantities and disbursements, according to Rasha Maghmuma of the directorate.

What is planned after the rehabilitation is completed?

The centre is to be handed over to the Hama Health Directorate, which plans to recruit new doctors and supply medical devices and medicines. The directorate raised the centre's classification to level C3 because of its importance to the area.

Update, 2 June 2026: rehabilitation at 95%

Uqayribat municipal council head Hafez al-Hammoud told Al-Fidaa newspaper on 2 June 2026 that work to rehabilitate the health dispensary and its maternity section had reached 95%, alongside the activation of a medical point supported by INTERSOS.