By James Grimaldi | Volunteer, Archangel Airborne
Amid gang violence and a collapsing health system, your support is keeping our medical clinic in Haiti open, nearly free and led by Haitian clinicians. Donations also aid a parish, and its school.
Haiti is experiencing an acute emergency with ongoing gang violence, widespread displacement and a public health system that UN agencies describe as “nearing collapse.” There are critical shortages of staff, equipment, medicines, and safe water.
Nearly three-quarters of women in many parts of Haiti lack access to basic healthcare and nutrition. Cholera has surged across all 10 departments (akin to counties) since 2022, and acute malnutrition among children under five is rising sharply.
Political instability and security breakdowns—including coordinated gang attacks on police stations, airports, and prisons—have further disrupted access to care, food, education, and livelihoods.
Despite this danger, Archangel Airborne’s mission remains fearless and clear: Combine aviation, medical, and technical expertise with Haitian-led partnerships to bring primary care, clean water, and community health infrastructure to the communities of Cap-Haïtien and La Victoire.
By grounding our work in local leadership and strategic alliances, we manage to deliver high-impact, resilient services that continue even when international teams pull out.
In 2019, Archangel Airborne changed its practice of conducting clinical operations with US volunteers to empowering Haitian clinicians under the leadership of Dr. Jean Rose Myrlande.
This move at the clinic, based at Notre Dame D’Altagrace in the Fort San Michel shanty town area of Cap-Haïtien, prepared the groundwork for a regular, community-based clinical presence.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and instability, we maintained monthly services, deepened trust and co-developed a shared vision for primary healthcare in the community.
A mobile medical clinic, with the assistance of Food for the Poor, arrived in 2021. The clinic, constructed inside a shipping container, includes a tightly designed reception and intake area, lab space, treatment bays, storage, and solar-ready power.
In 2022—after eight years of planning—the Dr. Jean F. Hibbert Memorial Clinic officially opened its doors in the vacant lot immediately adjacent to the parish school church and rectory next door. (*Dr. Jean F. Hibbert, who died in 2019, was the former medical operations officer for Archangel Airborne who worked tirelessly to build sustainable economic and public health infrastructure in Haiti.)
In 2023, the clinic shifted from a “pay-what-you-can” model to nearly free care, significantly increasing community demand and prompting us to open more frequently to meet that need.
Our Haitian-led team, now under the medical directorship of Dr. Myrlande, produces regular clinic reports tracking utilization, common conditions, medicines delivered, and operational needs. This critical data guides quality improvement and future investments.
Other major projects at the parish included the installation of solar panels and new restrooms. Priority upgrades ahead include: hiring a janitor and lab technician; strengthening inventory systems to prevent drug stock-outs; optimizing generator and solar power for 24/7 electricity (including Starlink connectivity); building a permanent shaded waiting area; and establishing a two-way community feedback mechanism.
Despite worsening conditions in Haiti, our Haitian partners have kept care and community programs moving forward. Recent and current highlights include:
Keeping the clinic open and nearly free, with increased patient volumes because of urgent community need.
Strengthening data gathering and quality through regular Haitian-generated clinic reports, with plans to introduce quality-of-care indicators and targets.
Advancing links outside Haiti by installing Starlink to enable telemedicine, continuous medical education, remote mentoring, and future electronic medical records and inventory systems.
Deepening strategic partnerships with Konbit Sante, the Northern Department Ministry of Health, RAD-AID (for imaging and mobile ultrasound and X-ray), JustEnergy (solar and power systems), KORE Haiti, Food for the Poor, Helping Haitian Angels, and others.
Preparing for a hub-and-spoke model by analyzing Primary Mobile Med International assets and exploring how to scale mobile medical clinics as local “health posts” linked to larger referral centers and potential partners like Partners in Health
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