ReliefWeb

On Friday, January 18, 2013, Haitian Minister for Public Health and Population Florence Guillaume and U.S. Ambassador Pamela White inaugurated the newly rehabilitated Health Center in Ouanaminthe, a border town in Northeast Haiti. The ceremony, which was also attended by Ministry of Health Northeast Department Director Jean Denis Pierre and Ouanaminthe Medical Center Director Pierre Sadate, highlighted the U.S. Government’s efforts to support the Government of Haiti in improving basic health services in Haiti and enhancing the living conditions of the Haitian people.

The U.S. Government, through USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), helped repair the facility, including fixing the roof, painting hospital walls and ceilings, tiling the floors of the maternity unit, as well as rehabilitating the sterilization room, to create a more sanitary and modern healthcare environment.

“This medical center, providing health services to more than 100,000 people from the areas surrounding Ouanaminthe, is a testament to the Haitian government’s commitment to extending basic services to its citizens,” said U.S. Ambassador White.

In addition, USAID, through its health project Santé pour le Développement et la Stabilité d’Haïti (SDSH), is providing the Ouanaminthe Health Center with a package of integrated priority health services, including child and maternal care, family planning, and treatment of HIV/ AIDS and tuberculosis. The project is also enhancing the facility’s information systems, waste management, and financial and human resource management. SDSH also targets Ouanaminthe as one of eight new Maternal Health Centers of Excellence in Haiti.