New Community Outpatient Clinic for Hinche, Haiti
On April 26-29, 2008, Tim O. Moore, II, professional engineer and Ph.D candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, visited Hinche, Haiti to lead an assessment team for the Virginia Tech chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The assessment came at the request of the Minister of Health, Dr. RAOUL Raphael, to build a new community outpatient clinic for the people of Hinche and its surrounding communities.
Tim Moore (EWB) and Loune Viaud (PIH) discuss the new outpatient clinic plan and vision with Minister of Health Dr. RAOUL Raphael (MSPP).
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with extreme widespread poverty. Numerous men, women and children die every year in Haiti from preventable diseases associated with lack of adequate medical care, lack of clean potable water and severely antiquated or non-existent infrastructure. There is a critical need for engineering assistance for the development of numerous in country projects, to include, medical clinics, water and wastewater infrastructure, reliable electric power, development of potable water sources and agricultural education.
View of a typical market and day in Haiti. Thousands of people fight to stay alive by selling their wares at local markets, sometimes walking for miles just to make a couple of dollars. The average salary of a typical Haitian is 200 dollars per year.
The current community clinic is located on the site of the Ste Theresé Hospital in Hinche, Haiti which serves a community of over 75,000 people. The structure is dilapidated, outdated, and in danger of collapsing. It currently struggles to provide the following services: pediatrics, prenatal care, dentistry, internal medicine, and immunizations.
View of current dilapidated outpatient clinic. The current clinic serves approximately 350 to 400 patients per day and is severely overcrowded
Tim Moore explains the current issues surrounding the failing clinic structure to Kate Greene and Loune Viaud (PIH)
View of clinic interior. Note the antiquated equipment used within the clinic. The clinic worker explains how difficult it is to provide adequate healthcare with the current tools he has to work with.
The 3 day assessment involved the partnering of the Directeur Departemental Ministère de la Sante Publique et de la Population (MSPP), Partners in Health (PIH) and EWB. Meetings included Dr. RAOUL Raphael, Minister of Health (MSPP), Loune Viaud, Zanmi Lasanté/Partners in Health Director of Strategic Planning, Susan Pleasants, Vice-Chair of the Haitian Health Care Foundation, project resource/planning, Tim Moore, EWB Project Lead, and additional Zanmi Lasanté engineering, finance, project development, and clinical staff.
The project team members discuss the proposed layout of the new clinic. It is expected that the new clinic will have to accommodate a greater number of people than the current clinic.