New Sassier Medical Clinic Opened on September 1st

The new Sassier Medical Clinic will be welcoming its first patients on September 1st.  Final cleaning is being done; furniture and equipment are being moved in; and the shelves are being stocked with medicine and supplies. Solar powered refrigeration for vaccines and other specialized medicines, as well as simple pain medicines and gauze bandages will all be ready for Opening Day!

The Sassier Clinic is only medical clinic in a 40 square miles area, so the Clinic team wants to be ready for those who come to seek medical attention.  Patients with high blood pressure and diabetes will no longer have to travel 8 miles, mostly by foot to receive needed care.  Parents will bring their children for well-baby care and standard vaccinations, with their journeys counted in minutes, not hours.  Emergency care for wounds and burns will also be available.  And, the nearly 1000 school students in the Sassier area will have medical care close at hand, every school day. Preventive care will be emphasized, particularly for women and children.

Our medical team is led by Madame Concepcia Pamphile, who is also the Deputy Medical Director of St. Anthony Hospital in Jeremie.  Madame Pamphile’s team includes Dr. Ketzna Mercure, and Nurse Dalfine Pamphile.  The Clinic’s Administrator is Madame Jordaine St. Fleur, an accountant who has been part of our Haiti team for 18 months.

Madame Pamphile has engineered an extraordinary turnaround at the Hospital in the past four years.  She guided us through the two year process of design, engineering and construction and is recognized as the clinic director by the Ministry of Public Health.  Her years of international experience teaching in Geneva, Switzerland and her service of Haiti’s premier nursing school will be great benefit to all the Clinic’s patients. Madame Pamphile was named one of the Best People of 2012 by Le Matin, one of Haiti’s two national newspapers.

Our Clinic meets all the current National Standards and has plenty of room for the expansion of health services over time, including minor surgical procedures and limited in-patient care.  We are looking forward to visits from specialists from the US and other countries who can bring their skills and healing touch to our sisters and brothers in the Sassier area.

Below are some pictures of the Clinic, which is not only well constructed, but also beautiful. Everyone is very proud.  We’ll send you an update of the Clinic’s opening and more information next week.

$1000  Medicines and supplies for a month

$500   One month Salary for Clinic Physician, Dr. Ketzna Mercure

$300   One month salary for Clinic Nurse, Dalfine Pamphile

$250   One day Mobile Clinic to remote village

$100   Laboratory supplies for a month

$75     Visit to the doctor for a class of 30 students

$50     Prenatal vitamins for 10 pregnant women

$25     Daily vitamins for 50 children for a month