Making childhood healthcare dreams a reality

Jolinette Pierre Samuel

Late last year, Jolinette Pierre Samuel received a High Distinction for her Post Graduate Diploma in Global Health Procurement and Supply Chain Management. Ms. Samuel is the recipient of an RHSC LAPTOP Scholarship, which supported her tuition costs at the Empower School of Health.

Promotion

Ms. Samuel leads operations in Haiti for the Shifo Foundation which develops national health and logistics management information systems while supporting government-led initiatives. During her LAPTOP-supported studies, Ms. Samuel was working in strengthening Haiti’s national supply chain. Her dedication, supported by her newly acquired postgraduate expertise, led to her promotion to Country Coordinator at Shifo, where she provides technical assistance to Haiti’s Ministry of Health and plays a key role in advancing the country’s electronic logistics management information system (eLMIS).

As Country Coordinator, she oversees various projects supported by the World Bank and Global Fund, including the Results-Based Financing project and the National Logistics Management Information System. She also manages project budgets, addresses training needs, and ensures the system’s long-term sustainability.

Early motivation

Ms. Samuel grew up in a rural town in northern Haiti where health centers were ill-equipped to deal with serious illness and in the absence of a reliable ambulance service, residents were forced to travel several hours on public transport to larger cities to receive treatment and medications.

Ms. Samuel resolved to enter healthcare, and one day build a hospital in her region.

“Basic healthcare services are frequently unavailable in my town, and most specialized care is also inaccessible,” Ms. Samuel says. “I vividly remember during the cholera epidemic when we struggled to find essential resources like intravenous fluids and hospital beds for patients. The situation is further complicated by insecurity and the poor condition of the roads, which makes accessing urgent care extremely difficult. It takes three hours to reach the departmental hospital, significantly delaying treatment and putting patients in need of immediate medical attention at greater risk.”

So, as a schoolgirl, Ms. Samuel resolved to enter healthcare, and one day build a hospital in her region. Applying to the State University of Haiti, Ms. Samuel was accepted into an undergraduate program in Pharmacy and has never looked back.

Ms. Samuel braves the dangers and often accompanies delivery workers to visit clinics in remote areas of Haiti

Ongoing countrywide issues

Political instability, gang violence, climate crises and compromised security mean that health supply chains in Haiti are struggling. Transportation from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to anywhere else in the country is “very, very difficult”, Ms. Samuel explains. Additionally, a shortage of adequately trained healthcare personnel and a lack of reliable health supply chain data compound Haiti’s healthcare struggles. The delivery of essential medicines is unreliable and stockouts are common.

Ms. Samuel braves the dangers and often accompanies delivery workers to visit clinics in remote areas of Haiti. She is aware of the risks of road travel but feels it is important to get a first-hand view of the real needs so she can do her job with more intuition and commitment.

A vision for change

Ms. Samuel’s early dream of building a hospital in her underserved hometown has not diminished and she recently joined ICIS (Initiative Citoyenne en Intervention Sociale), which with the Ministry of Health’s authorization is constructing a health center in her hometown.

“It is a start,” she says. “This health center will reliably and efficiently serve several hundreds of patients and it will pave the way to more ambitious projects.”

Bringing value as a woman in supply chain management

Ms. Samuel is aware that women are outnumbered in supply chain management positions but is clear about women’s unique contribution to her sector. “Women have a huge capacity for patience, engagement, and a sense of responsibility, all incredibly valuable qualities in a demanding field like supply chain management,” she says. “Women’s role in this field is growing rapidly, and I encourage young women to consider this career as a serious option because women hold the power to change the face of supplies.”