Hurricane Matthew Relief in Haiti

As you know from our last report, by early January SBHF's mobile clinic teams were reaching some of the most isolated communities on the western end of Haiti's Southern Peninsula - the area hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew. In the first ten weeks of operations, the mobile clinic teams saw over 9,000 patients. The vast majority of these people had not seen a doctor since before the storm, and many had not had access to medical care for years, even before Hurricane Matthew.

Since then, SBHF has continued to be a key partner in the South as communities struggle to rebuild after October's disasterous hurricane. 

In March, SBHF was awarded a one-year $1,900,000 grant to the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation (SBHF) to support SBHF’s work to address the immediate and longer term response and recovery in southern Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The much needed project will strengthen efforts to rebuild, revive, and reinforce health services in southern Haiti. Over the next 12 months, SBHF will continue to play a critical role in building healthcare infrastructure and services that were affected by Hurricane Matthew. This work will include expanding SBHF’s current role as a regional referral center in order to contribute towards building the long-term resiliency of the health system. With this support from WKKF, SBHF will expand treatment capacity in the region for specialty services such as obstetric and gynecological care, neonatal intensive care, and the provision of community health outreach services. This work is targeted towards communities, families, and individuals most affected by the hurricane, with the goal of promoting resilience for future disasters.

"The Kellogg Foundation's ongoing support of SBHF's core mission to provide high-quality healthcare to the people of southern Haiti is a testament to their long-term vision of a stronger, healthier Haiti. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew it has never been more important to ensure that all people, especially the most vulnerable, have access to healthcare. We are grateful for WKKF's partnership in this effort," said SBHF CEO Conor Shapiro.

In addition to building the capacity of its referral hospital, SBHF has partnered with Build Health International (BHI), which has successfully constructed essential health infrastructure in Haiti and southeastern Africa for years, to strengthen supply chain systems vital to delivery of quality care in southern Haiti. BHI will construct a 10,000 square-foot warehouse to expand the current storage capacity for much-needed supplies. This warehouse will serve as a regional distribution point for supplies and medications. 

This is WKKF’s fifth grant to SBHF. In addition, the WKKF provided major support for the construction of the Maternal and Neonatal Health Center, and ongoing operations support for maternal, neonatal, and child health services, as well as surgical and monitoring and evaluation programs.

Links:

• Click here for more information on our Hurricane Response.

In the first six weeks after the storm, SBHF stepped up as the leading healthcare provider in the devastated region, with the only functioning referral hospital available to all of the people affected. Our hospital staff saw over 8,000 patients in those first six weeks, and the inpatient wards and NICU were over capacity for weeks. The team at St. Boniface Hospital is working incredibly hard to make sure that every person who comes to us receives the high-quality, compassionate care that has made us a model for healthcare across Haiti.

In this time of crisis, SBHF is also working outside of the hospital to provide care and aid to people in our communities and across the South. In response to the overwhelming need, SBHF conducted the following relief efforts: 

Sent mobile clinic teams to some of the hardest hit areas of the southern peninsula. In Les Cayes the team saw over 350 patients living in a makeshift shelter at a local school. And in Tiburon, which was directly hit by the hurricane’s 145 mph winds, they saw almost 650 people in three days of clinics. Many of these patients had not seen a doctor since the hurricane.
 

Received donated rice, beans, and cooking oil to distribute to members of our community who lost their crops. This emergency aid will help ward off famine until the next harvest.

Provided supplies and education to ensure people have access to safe drinking water.

Distributed tarps to provide shelter for families whose homes were damaged or destroyed, and schools whose students were able to start classes again with a tarp roof over their heads,

As part of the Ministry of Health’s cholera vaccination campaign, we distributed oral cholera vaccine for the first time ever on the Southern Peninsula. Our teams in their neon green shirts have so far protected 20,000 people in our area from this horrible and dangerous disease - and they are still out in the field this week, reaching even more remote communities.

All of these efforts were possible because of the support of over 2,200 people who have donated to SBHF to help southern Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. If you were one of them, Thank You. Our staff has been honored and encouraged to have you standing beside them in spirit as they travel the southern peninsula and care for patients at St. Boniface Hospital.

We could not do it without you, and we hope you will continue to follow our progress over the coming months as we continue our hurricane response work. 

Links:

• Hurricane Response