The Hospital Changing Haiti’s Health System
Ten years ago, BHI co-founders Jim Ansara and David Walton stood at the site of Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM) — then an empty field — and envisioned a different healthcare future for Haiti.
Since then, the 350-bed hospital, which is run by Partners In Health, has provided care to over 1.7 million patients and set a new standard for care delivery in Haiti. In January 2020, HUM received formal accreditation from ACGME-I, the international arm of the US-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, affirming that the hospital meets the highest global standards as a teaching institution. Only seven other countries have facilities with ACGME-I accreditation; University of Panama is the only other accredited facility in Latin America and the Caribbean.
HUM’s rapid growth in patients and services, as well as unprecedented improvements in quality of care and medical education, have been supported — and driven — by investments in infrastructure, with BHI building continuously at the hospital campus since the doors opened in 2013:
Solar Micro-grid, 2013
Expanded in 2017, today 1800 solar panels provide reliable power to the hospital.
Resident Dorms, 2014
HUM has become the premier teaching hospital in the country, with medical expertise and equipment not available anywhere else in Haiti. HUM’s dormitories enable student doctors and nurses from across the country to live on-site and focus on their studies.
Wastewater Treatment, 2014
The BHI-designed water and sanitation system at HUM keeps the hospital safe and the community healthy.
Rehabilitation Center, 2015
The Center of Excellence in Rehabilitation and Education at HUM supports amputees to regain their independence through prosthesis fittings and physical therapy. It is the first public sector program of its kind in Haiti. The L-shaped building fosters an environment of care and recovery, with abundant light and colorful, mosaiced walls.
Reference Laboratory, 2016
Completed in collaboration with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, HUM’s Reference Laboratory has brought world-class clinical and pathology testing services to Haiti. With the first fixed level-3 biosafety lab in the country, equipped to handle highly infectious and airborne diseases, the Reference Laboratory has improved diagnosis times across the health system, which has introduced treatment protocols and options previously unavailable in Haiti.
Maternal Waiting Home, 2016
With hospital beds and resources limited, expectant mothers in Haiti are often forced to sleep on the ground outside a hospital while they wait for their labor to begin. HUM’s mother’s home — designed and built by BHI — is proving there is another way. In 2018, the space housed more than 400 women, enabling safer deliveries and reducing maternal mortality.
Acute Diarrheal Center, 2017
Designed and equipped to strengthen the fight against Cholera in Haiti.
Oncology Center, 2018
Mirebalais continues to be the only public hospital in the country offering robust cancer care, including comprehensive chemotherapy, surgery, and counselling. In 2019, the hospital provided cancer treatment to more than 570 patients, most of whom were women with breast cancer.
Emergency Room, 2020
HUM has brought a new model to emergency care in Haiti, in which the most acute patients receive care first. The construction and BHI’s successive expansions of HUM’s specialized emergency department enabled the creation of the first Emergency Medicine Residency in the country.
Dignified spaces for care enable doctors and nurses to work at their full potential, while developing new diagnostic methods and training the next generation of health professionals. Today, HUM is proving that a different healthcare future is possible for Haiti, and that infrastructure can make this vision a reality.
Ela Hefler is Build Health International’s Development & Communications Specialist. She writes about the intersections of health and infrastructure, with a focus on the impact of BHI’s work on fragile health systems.
This story was originally published in our Build Health International’s 2019 Annual Report —read the full report here.
