Ste Croix Community Health Center

La Gônave, Haiti

Holy Cross Community Health Center is an outpatient clinic currently housed in the Church of Ste. Croix in Nouvelle Citè on the island of La Gônave, Haiti. La Gônave, 60 miles long and 20 miles wide, is situated in the Bay of Haiti, about 16 miles by water from the mainland. There are more than 100,000 people living on La Gônave, with one 20-bed hospital in the in the port village of Anse-à-Galets. The Holy Cross Community Health Center is about an hour's drive into the hills. It is staffed by a doctor, two nurses, a pharmacist and a lab technician. This center is a joint project between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.

Significant problems and challenges addressed by the clinic include infant malnutrition, dehydration from disease, malaria, tuberculosis and high blood pressure. Oral rehydration solution provided in outlying communities has had a positive effect in terms of both treatment and prevention, as have educational programs such as family planning, nutrition, sanitation practices and STD awareness. An agricultural and community development program is underway, including a training project that teaches women to sew.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) assists this project through the Extra Commitment Opportunities funds Acct. #862619. The Medical Benevolence Foundation also raises funds for this primary health care clinic. Visiting groups of doctors, dentists and other can be housed and fed at the Episcopal Compound in Anse-à-Galets.