Hôpital Ste. Croix (Holy Cross
Hospital)
Léogâne, Haiti
Hôpital Sainte Croix is located in Léogâne,
twenty miles west of Port-au-Prince. Since its founding as a small
outpatient clinic in 1968, this regional medical center has grown to be
the only full-service referral hospital serving the peninsula of Haiti.
The hospital directs the Community Medical Center at nearby Darbonne,
which trains community health workers and traditional midwives and is
affiliated with the Léogâne Nursing School. Hôpital Sainte Croix also
coordinates a network of community health workers and village clinics
throughout the immediate rural region.
At Hôpital Sainte Croix, more than 350 patients are seen on an average
day for a nominal fee. The average income of a Haitian family is $370 a
year. Many Haitians are unable to pay for their medical care. At Hôpital
Sainte Croix often fees must be waived or reduced. The hospital receives
occasional contributions for operational support to cover the charity
care the hospital provides. It is never enough to cover the $7,500
deficit in operations they have each month as they provide for the needs
of those who require charity medical care.
The full-time medical staff provides inpatient care and outpatient
services. The hospital provides two kinds of service: Curative Care at
the hospital and Primary Health Care Services in the Centre de Medecine
Communautaire, a community health center.
Curative Care
The hospital is a 130-bed, full service facility offering outpatient
health services and inpatient services including general medical care,
surgical, gynecological, obstetric, pediatric, orthopedic,
ophthalmologic, cardiology, and dental care. There are also radiology
services, a pharmacy, laboratory, two delivery rooms, and four operating
theaters with a recovery room, an intensive care unit, and an emergency
room. A physician is on duty at the hospital 24 hours a day. Through a
program funded by USAID (through the Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta) a center has been established at the hospital for research into
parasitical diseases and the treatment of filariesis.
Primary Health Care
The Community Medical Center supervises a network of 113 community
health workers who serve the rural population in the Léogâne region. The
community health workers are trained to counsel local people about
health and sanitation, identify and classify illness, prescribe simple
remedies, give vaccinations, and make referrals to clinics or the
hospital. The Community Medical Center also operates a village midwife
program with 200 available midwives to serve the local inhabitants and
outlying rural area. One of the important community health programs the
hospital supports is providing HIV/AIDS education and prevention
information.
In 2004 over 2,600 patients were admitted and almost 1,500 surgeries
done at the hospital. More than 18,200 were seen as outpatients. The
midwife training program continues to supervise 200 rural village
midwives. In 2004 these midwives helped with more than 4,000 deliveries.
Hôpital St. Croix is also the training hospital for the School of
nursing.
HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention
Haiti has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the western hemisphere.
The average infection rate is 10% while specific population groups and
geographical areas have incident rates as high as 35%. One of the
important community health programs the hospital supports is providing
HIV/AIDS education and prevention information to Haitians in the Léogâne
area.
Léogâne is one of the most impoverished and discouraging areas in Haiti.
MBF in cooperation with PC(USA) is essential as a Christian witness
organization since there is no one else doing similar mission outreach
in this part of Haiti.
Nursing School
The healing ministry of in Hôpital Ste. Croix, Leogane was started as a
small outpatient clinic in 1968. The enormous health problems facing
Haiti then continue today. Since the first in-patients were admitted in
1974, Hôpital Ste. Croix has been jointly operated by the Episcopal
Diocese in Haiti and the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Hôpital Ste. Croix now has 120 beds with a 24-hour emergency room, two
delivery rooms and four operating theaters. They provide both inpatient
and outpatient care to the Haitian people in the Leogane region. In the
Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, the needs continue to be great.
Last year over 1,800 patients were admitted and more than 10,000
outpatients were seen. The outreach program served over 17,000.
Hôpital Ste. Croix maintains a comprehensive training program at their
Darbonne center. Community Health Workers are trained for the Leogane
area and throughout Haiti. The midwifery-training program has trained
and supervises over 200 village midwives.
Well trained, broadly educated, quality nurses are in short supply. The
need for improved training has been identified and the Nursing School
will address the serious manpower needed not only at Hôpital Ste. Croix,
but throughout Haiti. This is a country where the average income per
Haitian is between $250 - $400/year, and it is estimated a nurses salary
to be $40/month.
The school was officially dedicated on January 5, 2005 with attending
representatives from PC(USA), MBF and the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti. On
January 10, 2005 the school opened its doors to 35 full-time nursing
students.
Nursing Scholarships
The healing ministry of Hôpital Ste. Croix, Léogâne was started as a
small outpatient clinic in 1968. The enormous health problems facing
Haiti then continue today. Since the first in-patients were admitted in
1974, Hôpital Ste. Croix has been jointly operated by the Episcopal
Diocese in Haiti and the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Hôpital Ste. Croix now has 120 beds with a 24-hour emergency room, two
delivery rooms and four operating theaters. They provide both inpatient
and outpatient care to the Haitian people in the Léogâne region. In the
Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, the needs continue to be great.
Last year over 1,800 patients were admitted and more than 10,000
outpatients were seen. The outreach program served over 17,000.
Well trained, broadly educated, quality nurses are in short supply in
Haiti. The need for improved training has been identified and the newly
opened nursing school will address the serious medical staff shortage
not only at Hôpital Ste. Croix, but throughout Haiti. This is a country
where the average income per Haitian is between $250 - $400/year, and a
nurse’s salary is estimated to be $40/month.
MBF in partnership with PC (USA), the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, along
with ASHA Grants and partner congregations built the nursing school
located in Léogâne, Haiti. The school is a four-year baccalaureate
program designed to train Haitian nurses to provide medical care in
their home communities.
Seven years ago the nursing school was the dream of Dr. Guy LaFontant
director of Hôpital Ste. Croix. His hope was that it would “influence
the quality of nursing education in Haiti and expand the role of nurses
in the hospital and community health programs.” Groundbreaking for the
school came two years later, in 1999, but construction did not begin
until 2003. The nursing school program is now a part of the Episcopal
University of Haiti.
Civil unrest in Haiti delayed the opening of the newly completed nursing
school at Hôpital Ste. Croix. The school was officially dedicated on
January 5, 2005 with attending representatives from PC (USA), Medical
Benevolence Foundation and the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti. Among those
present was Jimmy Hite President of the Medical Benevolence Foundation
and architect for the nursing school project.
On January 10, 2005 the school of nursing opened its doors to its first
class of 30 full-time nursing students with Hilda Alcindor, RN as the
Dean of the school. Each of the 30 nursing students is a graduate of
high school. Most are from the surrounding area of Léogâne, Haiti. The
cost of one full scholarship for a year will be $3,000 USD. This amount
will cover the tuition, books, uniforms, room, and board.
Please prayerfully consider supporting a nursing student.
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