Please help us raise $50,000 to Strengthen Pediatrics

Hôpital Universitaire Justinien, the only teaching hospital in northern Haiti, serves a population of approximately 1 million people. This 300-bed public tertiary care hospital in downtown Cap-Haitien treats people of all incomes and helps instruct Haiti’s future doctors.

During a typical month, Justinien’s pediatric doctors and nurses care for 1,500 children in the outpatient unit and admit an average of 120 patients. Neonatal disorders, diarrheal diseases, and respiratory tract infections are the three leading causes of hospitalization. Now that food prices have nearly doubled in Haiti, the pediatric unit is seeing increasing numbers of malnourished patients.

The pediatric unit at Justinien Hospital.

Dozens of medical residents arrive at the hospital each year to receive specialized training. Residents are often the primary care providers at the hospital, and upon graduation, they assume roles as senior physicians, educators, hospital administrators, and policymakers. The quality of education that residents receive impacts both the day-to-day care at the hospital and the long-term development of a strong healthcare system in Haiti. 

In late 2021, Dr. Saint Fleur, Attending Faculty and Konbit Sante Program Manager, asked us to collaborate to develop a new enhanced resident curriculum and evaluation system. The goal? To create a three-year curriculum that strengthens the pediatric training program at Justinien and helps develop a cadre of high-performing pediatric generalists in Haiti.

Dr. Saint Fleur teaching at bedside at Justinien Hospital.

The program,  completed over the course of 2022,  was jointly developed by Justinien Hospital and Konbit Sante. The enhanced curriculum covers 51 pediatric topics, including neonatology, critical care, and pulmonology, to name a few. The curriculum is implemented by a team of interns, residents, and volunteer doctors, including Konbit Sante volunteers Dr. Adam Silverman and Dr. Harrem Park from Connecticut Children’s Hospital and Dr. Dan Sobel,retired head of neonatology at Maine Medical Center. Today, Justinien is the only one of Haiti’s four public teaching hospitals with such an advanced and structured curriculum.

“Residents are always asking for training,” Dr. Saint Fleur tells us. “They want the best training they can have. And we are responsible for giving them the best. They used to come to Hôpital Justinien because they had no other choice. Now we want to be the best choice in Haiti for them.”

A nurse checks vital signs in the pediatric unit.

What’s the payoff? First, more medical residents are attracted to Justinien Hospital’s pediatric residency program and get the high-quality training they crave. Second, according to Dr. Saint Fleur, the majority of these residents stay and practice in the North, further improving health care for the youngest patients. The ultimate impact, according to Dr. Saint Fleur, is that “Patients will have better care. And that will be a good thing for the country.”

Please donate today. Thank you!

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE CARE OF JUSTINIEN’S PEDIATRIC PATIENTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PERFORMING PEDIATRICIANS IN HAITI.

• Your donation will support a full year of Dr. Saint Fleur’s teaching and supervision.
• It will provide supplemental compensation for auxiliary staff, including a supply manager and staff who prepare food for patients in the pediatric malnutrition unit.
• It will supplement compensation for a clinician and nurses’ aide to manage the day-to-day care delivery on the pediatric outpatient unit, ensuring consistent staffing and hours of operation.
• And it will supply residents with emergency medicines and medical materials (IVs, solutions, and drugs like Albendazole and Gentamicin) to ensure that families can receive treatment regardless of ability to pay.

This support is critical to the ability of these newly trained doctors to treat pediatric patients at Justinien. Here in the United States, we assume that our hospitals have ample staff, clean rooms, supplies, and medicine.  We take for granted that they are equipped to manage our preventive and acute care needs at all times. We believe Haitians deserve to have the same expectations and experiences.

Your donation of $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, or any amount makes a real difference. Thank you.

Help us meet our match and double the impact of your donation.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 between now and April 1. The first $20,000 of donations between now and April 1 will be matched dollar for dollar by a matching gift from founders Michael and Wendy Taylor to kick start this campaign. Please help us meet and exceed this match! Thank you.

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