Community Reference Hospital Saint-Louis du Nord

The devastating earthquake of January 12^th 2010, which hit Haiti with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, left the country with a death toll of around 220,000 and over 1 million persons lost their homes.

Hilfswerk International responded to the humanitarian disaster by immediately setting up an emergency assistance program, including the construction and setting in place of a Community Reference Hospital in one of Haiti’s poorest and most disconnected regions: Saint-Louis du Nord. The hospital opened its services at the beginning of 2011. Located about 12 km west of Port-de-Paix, the capital of the North-Western Department, this prefab hospital now serves a population of 120,000 and is equipped with 20 beds, an acute day ward, observatory and examination rooms, a pharmacy, a laboratory and other adjoining facilities, thereby offering affordable, high-quality health services to people in need.

To fight the region’s high maternal, child and infant mortality rate, the hospital will now, in accordance with the Government of Haiti’s Global Health Plan and corresponding to the UN Millennium Development Goals, be modified into a Mother and Child Health Care Center, offering pre-natal, obstetric and post-natal health care and medical services for women as well as newborns. In addition, to build awareness on these new medical services as well as on sexual and reproductive health and rights, the modification construction works will be complemented by a comprehensive community health program that reaches out to villages around the whole district of Saint-Louis du Nord. 

• Decreasing maternal, child and infant mortality rates
• Ensuring the quality of affordable, new medical services and structures
• Continued presence of qualified, well-educated and motivated staff
• Developing a sustainable chain of subsequent purchases and deliveries of medical supplies, instruments and consumables

• Modification of facilities and installation of surgery, gynecology and pediatrics
• Training of local doctors and other hospital staff by international experts
• Implementation of a comprehensive community health program focusing on sexual, reproductive and child health

Saint-Louis-du-Nord in the Nord-West Department of Haiti