Keeping St. Boniface Hospital Clean

At St. Boniface Hospital, we can’t take a single resource for granted. It can take days and sometimes even months of logistics, shipping, and coordination to get even the most basic supplies to our doors in rural southern Haiti. We’re also very far away from waste disposal sites. We must therefore recycle and find new uses for everything we can, and manage any refuse responsibly for the safety of our staff, patients, and community.

During a recent weeklong training with the organization BELAS Eco-Social Systems, the St. Boniface Hospital team deepened its commitment to responsible waste management practices and creative recycling.

Together, staff from across the hospital reviewed and reinforced best practices for triaging waste, handling and disposal techniques, personal protective equipment, and more. The group also reviewed and codified waste management responsibilities to ensure every single team understands exactly what role they play in keeping the hospital clean and sanitary.

While proper waste management is essential, so is recycling and reducing the amount of waste we create. For example, composting scraps from our kitchen helps us create nutrient-rich soil for our gardens. We’re also working on a project to create paving bricks by using old plastic containers. After cleaning the containers thoroughly, we melt them down and mix them with ashes and sand to make blocks that can then be used to pave parking lots and other areas. We’ll soon be reaching out to the rest of the community to collect and creatively reuse plastic for paving bricks and other uses, helping to keep our whole area cleaner.

We’ve also been working with the community to regularly keep the road to the hospital clean. Because so many people come and go, and many vendors sell food and goods outside of our gates, trash can accumulate quickly. Now, every 2-3 weeks we work together with community members to pick up trash and wash the road to ensure the way stays clear for patients, visitors, and staff. It takes all of us to care for our community, and we’re proud to help keep our home clean.

Waste management and recycling are every bit as important as clinical care at St. Boniface Hospital. Responsible waste disposal reduces the chance of infection and promotes healing. And, by finding new uses for things that would otherwise be thrown out, we minimize the overall amount of waste we create. We’re continuing to grow and expand our waste management and recycling program, and everyone has a role to play. Together, we can keep both St. Boniface Hospital and Fond des Blancs clean and beautiful.