Our hearts are with our colleagues at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais as they have been forced to suspend operations as armed gangs set fire to buildings, attacked police stations, released prisoners, and forced families to flee their homes.
Read more about the attack in the Miami Herald article HERE.
HAS is doing everything in our power to stand with our partners and respond to crisis after crisis. We mobilized immediately, receiving busloads of patients and staff evacuated from Mirebalais. We pushed far beyond our 200-bed capacity, transforming our Cholera Treatment Center into a temporary refuge for those fleeing violence, and helped coordinate patient transfers to other safe facilities. We provided housing and warm meals for the heroic doctors and nurses who were forced to flee in the middle of the night. These efforts underscore who we are: a hospital that rises to meet every challenge, no matter the cost, and stands with our friends.
The painful decision by Partners In Health / Zanmi Lasanté to suspend operations at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais is a devastating development for the thousands of patients who depend on its services and the dedicated staff who work there.
At Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS), our mission has always been clear: to serve the people of Haiti with compassion, resilience, and unwavering care; especially in moments of uncertainty.
Right now, that mission is facing one of its greatest tests.
HAS continues to step up to stand with our partners and patients.
But we cannot do it alone.
The closure of Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais is a sobering reminder of the fragility of Haiti’s healthcare infrastructure—and a rallying cry for urgent action. We need your help more than ever. With your support, we can continue to provide lifesaving care for displaced families, maintain critical services amid escalating instability, and protect the dignity and health of every person who turns to HAS in their time of need.
Together, we can be a lifeline.
Sincerely,
Jean Marc de Matteis
CEO
| EXCERPT FROM THE MIAMI HERALD:
“Before its closure, the University Hospital of Mirebalais served nearly 850 patients a day, including providing maternal care and advanced cancer treatment. Two other hospitals in the area — St. Therese in Hinche and the 200-bed Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Artibonite — are now coming under increased strain and face critical shortages of oxygen, emergency medical kits and other supplies, Dujarric said on Wednesday.” Read more in the Miami Herald here. |
Circumstances continue to unravel in Haiti. The more rural areas of the Artibonite Valley used to see less gang violence but no more. Hospital Albert Schweitzer now needs to provide care to those displaced patients from Paul Farmer’s facility in Mirabalais. Please consider supporting the dedicated staff at HAS.
At HAS in the 1960s we learned the value of Haitians registering every household for a “no one left out”
Approach now be g taught at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health by Dr Henry Perry,