Haiti

Hôpital Sainte Croix

Hôpital Sainte Croix is located in Leogane, 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Started as a small aid station by a Haitian Episcopal priest in the late 60s it now fills a five-acre urban compound. The hospital has grown to a 120-bed institution, offering comprehensive in-patient and out-patient services for the poor. Facilities include four operating theaters, two delivery rooms, a dental clinic, laboratory services and a 24-hr. emergency room.

Health conditions in Leogane, a city of more than 100,000 people, mirror the poverty and disease that afflicts all of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Life expectancy is only 42 years. Inadequate nutrition and poor sanitation contribute to illness, malnutrition and skin diseases. Respiratory infections are common in children, and infant mortality rates are extremely high. Among adults, HIV/AIDS continues to be a critical health issue, and malaria is a chronic health problem in the outlying areas. The hospital also operates a community medical training center at Darbonne, where more than 900 health workers have been trained since 1982.

The hospital carries out its mission in a facility that lacks adequate surgical and laboratory equipment and struggles daily with failing electrical and plumbing systems. Presbyterians from many United States congregations regularly provide both medical mission teams to the Leogane area and assistance with repairs and maintenance to the hospital facilities, but the forces of a weakening national economy and political instability have compounded the challenges facing the hospital's staff and it's dedicated supporters in the United States.

The work of the hospital is assisted by the PC(USA) Extra Commitment Opportunities (Acct.# 343302) funds. The Medical Benevolence Foundation provides assistance to the hospital and to many of the community programs. The hospital is operated jointly by the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and the Presbyterian Church (USA).