Hurricane Preparedness at St. Boniface Hospital

Thanks to your incredible generosity, Health Equity International/St. Boniface Hospital (HEI/SBH) has begun preparations for the 2022 hurricane season.

We are thankful that SBH was undamaged by last year’s tropical storms and 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Although the 2021 storm season was unique and especially devastating for southern Haiti, HEI/SBH has faced disasters before, and we have responded with expertise, resilience, and a spirit of collaboration. We are committed to providing quality care and resources to anyone in need.

SBH now faces the challenge of preparing for hurricane season in the midst of country-wide political insecurity. Unrest has not reached Fond-des-Blancs; however, violence has cut off our access to Port-au-Prince, an essential location for resupplying. Our operations team is finding workarounds to buy supplies locally and in bulk whenever possible. Because of your support, we will be able to prepare with extra food, water, purification tablets, sandbags, and other materials to mitigate storm risks. Despite unprecedented circumstances, our staff have not wavered in their commitment to protecting SBH and our patients. Neither have you. Thank you.

As we procure critical supplies and train staff for the coming hurricane season, we are leveraging our learnings from this past year. Our staff will continue to prepare and collaborate by forming a disaster relief committee. The committee will centralize our response to a wide variety of disasters, drawing upon 35+ years of experience providing healthcare in the southwest corridor microregion of Haiti. For HEI/SBH, that experience has included responding to earthquakes, hurricanes, and the COVID-19 pandemic. SBH has served as a model for community awareness, prevention, and intervention in times of calm and crisis. Thank you for standing with us.