Taiwan has injected half a million US dollars into the Tabiteuea North hospital project, in the south of Kiribati.
It is the first hospital to be set up outside of the capital, Tarawa.
A senior public works and utilities officer says final planning for the project is under way with work due to starty by the middle of this year.
The Kiribati Government says the project will upgrade medical services in the far flung southern islands and ease the expense of referring medical cases to Tarawa.
