By KIM VAN OOSTEN
Photos by CHRIS RYAN
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
Eight years after an earthquake destroyed St. Francis de Sales Hospital here, leadership of the 200-bed, bustling modern hospital and outpatient clinic that replaced it is moving to ensure it will continue to thrive.
The new hospital, dedicated Jan. 15, 2015, is owned and governed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince. Throughout its 100-plus-year history, St. Francis de Sales Hospital has been the principal health care provider for the poorest and most vulnerable people of the Haitian capital.
On Jan. 12, 2010, a massive, magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, devastating much of the country's capital, killing more than 230,000 people and leaving approximately 2 million people homeless. The earthquake leveled 80 percent of the buildings at St. Francis de Sales, including the pediatric and general inpatient wards. An estimated 70 patients, visitors and staff were killed when the hospital buildings collapsed.
The replacement hospital, reconstructed in part with $10.1 million in donations from CHA member organizations, has maternity, pediatric, internal medicine and surgery service lines, physical therapy and imaging as well as a 24-hour pharmacy, laboratory and emergency department, said Msgr. Patrick Aris. Msgr. Aris is coordinator of the Directors General for St. Francis de Sales. He is the lead of the three priests appointed by the archbishop of Port-au-Prince to oversee St. Francis de Sales. By end of this year he hopes to expand services to include dialysis and an intensive care unit. He also wants the hospital to open a Center of Excellence in Hernioplasty, or hernia repair.
Partnership is a primary means for achieving his goals.
"I am wo rking to establish a network of Catholic health facilities in the metropolitan area and I hope partnerships with Bernard Mevs Hospital and Asile Français Hospital," Msgr. Aris said. Both those hospitals are in Port-au-Prince. "Internationally I am in touch with many individuals," said Msgr. Aris, and formal partnerships could spring from these discussions.
Bruce Compton, CHA's senior director of international outreach, worked with Catholic Relief Services to oversee construction of the facility and its start-up. He said he was encouraged by a December visit to the hospital.
"I left with a new sense of hope. In the six months since my last visit there has been much progress. You can see a continued evolving of the staff and facilities," he said. "In addition, the support for the hospital continues to grow."
Photos © CHA
His trip dovetailed with visits from representatives of Creighton University, CRS, the American College of Surgeons and Ascension Global Mission — all of whom were there to provide capacity-building expertise or other assistance to the hospital.
Compton said he learned about a newly formed group, the Association St. Francois, which is bringing together influential supporters from Haiti who are willing to give of their time, talent and money to assist the hospital.
Msgr. Aris launched the Association St. Francois in September to support the mission of the hospital. "ASF should be the eyes, the ears and the arms of the hospital at all levels in our society," he said.