My Trip to Paul Farmer's Hospital

I am a huge Paul Farmer fan.  I have been ever since I read Mountains Beyond Mountains my freshman year of college.  I have always wanted to visit where he worked in Haiti, and last week I had a chance to!  A cardiology team was coming to Paul Farmer’s new teaching hospital, and Stephanie had two kids who needed to see them.  Since everyone knows how much I love Paul Farmer, Stephanie knew she would not have to convince me to be her other person on the trip. 

It was a long trip.  The hospital is in Mirebalais, which is about an hour outside of Port-au-Prince.  We left here on the midnight bus to go to Port-au-Prince.  We then took a bus to Mirebalais.  All in all it took about 12 hours for us to get there.  We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and Stephanie and I went to visit the hospital. 

Me outside of the hospital

We had a friend who was able to give us a tour of the hospital, and I was absolutely blown away.  The hospital was so big and beautiful.  Everything was very well laid out and surprisingly clean.  There were fans everywhere, and they even had these UV lights all over that are supposed to kill germs in the air.  The hospital included a men’s ward, women’s ward, children’s ward, maternity, a surgery center, ICU, neonatal ward, and so much more.  They also have a therapy center, lab, ct machine, x-ray, and more! It raised my standards on what the quality of hospitals can be here (with the right funding that is).  Here are some photos of the inside of the hospital.

The children's ward

Playroom for the kids

One of the consultation rooms

The hospital gave me conflicting thoughts on its sustainability.  The entire hospital is run by solar panels, and all the money was raised BEFORE they built the hospital.  However, when a patient comes to the hospital, all they pay is the equivalent of $1 US.  That means that they could get a ct scan, surgery, stay in the hospital, and get rehab all for $1 US.  While that is absolutely wonderful for the Haitians who cannot typically afford quality healthcare, it would not cover hardly any of the expenses of the hospital. 

As much as I loved being able to visit the hospital and see some of Paul Farmer’s work, it was also hard.  We often deliver babies by cellphone light in our birthing center.  If a baby stops breathing and needs to be put on oxygen, we have to think about if we can turn the generator on.  Premature babies who need to be in an incubator have pretty much no chance here.  Yet this hospital had an entire neonatal ward!! I would by lying if I said I was not jealous of some of the capabilities that they had. 

As we were walking to the hospital, Stephanie and I were talking about how different the town was than Saint Louis.  No one yelled out “hey blanc” (hey white person).  No one seemed shocked to see us.  We talked about how it was kind of nice.  However, by the time we walked back to the hotel, we were missing the atmosphere of Saint Louis.  In Mirebalais, people may not have been phased that we were white, but they also did not care that we were there at all.  We had to ask the security guard a question, and he completely turned around trying to avoid us.  We may hear “hey blanc” a lot in Saint Louis, but everyone says hi and everyone is willing to help.  This all may sound silly, but I was thankful for a reminder of how much I love life in Saint Louis.

The next day we took the two kids for their check up.  One problem that is often in Haiti is that if you go to a medical facility with a white person you typically get pushed through faster/a better quality of care.  We were pleasantly surprised to be put at the end of the line to see the cardiologist.  We were even more surprised to get two good reports from the doctor!  

It was a quick trip, but I am so thankful for the opportunity.  I am thankful to fulfill a dream of mine.  I am thankful to have been able to see how another hospital runs.  I am thankful for two clean bills of health for the kids.  And now, I am even more thankful to be home where everyone says hi and asks how I am!