Hurricane Response Update: Six Weeks After the Storm

Since that day, HEI/SBH has stepped up as the leading healthcare provider in the devastated region, with the only functioning referral hospital available to all of the people affected. Our hospital staff has seen over 8,000 patients since the hurricane, and the inpatient wards and NICU have been over capacity for weeks. The team at SBH is working incredibly hard to make sure that every person who comes to us receives the high-quality, compassionate care that has made us a model for healthcare across Haiti. 

In this time of crisis, HEI/SBH is also working outside of the hospital to provide care and aid to people in our communities and across the South. In the past two weeks we have:

• Sent mobile clinic teams to some of the hardest hit areas of the southern peninsula. In Les Cayes the team saw over 350 patients living in a makeshift shelter at a local school. And in Tiburon, which was directly hit by the hurricane’s 145 mph winds, they saw almost 650 people in three days of clinics. Many of these patients had not seen a doctor since the hurricane.
• Received donated rice, beans, and cooking oil to distribute to members of our community who lost their crops. This emergency aid will help ward off famine until the next harvest.
• Provided supplies and education to ensure people have access to safe drinking water.
• Distributed tarps to provide shelter for families whose homes were damaged or destroyed, and schools whose students were able to start classes again with a tarp roof over their heads.

As part of the Ministry of Health’s cholera vaccination campaign, we distributed oral cholera vaccine for the first time ever on the Southern Peninsula. Our teams in their neon green shirts have so far protected 20,000 people in our area from this horrible and dangerous disease—and they are still out in the field this week, reaching even more remote communities.

All of these efforts were possible because of the support of over 2,000 people who have donated to HEI/SBH to help southern Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. If you were one of them, Thank You. Our staff has been honored and encouraged to have you standing beside them in spirit as they travel the southern peninsula and care for patients at SBH.

We could not do it without you, and we hope you will continue to follow our progress over the coming weeks and months as we expand our efforts in response to the overwhelming need.