A New Hospital for La Gonave

La Gonave has just one hospital... a tiny, 35-bed mission hospital located in the seaside village of Anse-a-Galets. Built in the late 50ʼs, the hospital today is in terrible condition. Even before the January, 2010 earthquake that decimated Haiti, the hospital was in rough shape: leaky roofs, dangerous wiring, and no indoor plumbing save for one surgery scrub sink and one faucet in the nurses station. Thankfully, the building did not collapse from the quake, but serious cracks in the structure made it even more unsafe than it already was. Its condition has seriously worsened. The hospital is in critical condition, beyond repair. La Gonave desperately needs a new one.

A new day. A new hospital for La Gonave.

Plans are finalized. In a gutsy and visionary move, Lemon Aid, a non-profit organization based in Scotland initiated a study for a new hospital and has already raised significant funding, enough to move forward. The architects and engineers have given us the final drawings upon which we will build a new hospital across the road from the current one. Our new hospital will have 44 inpatient beds. We will have an emergency room and two fully-equipped surgery suites, clean running water and flush toilets. Provisional drawings for an additional 24-bed wing have been drawn up, should the need for increased capacity arise in future.

Looking down the road, Starfysh asks, “What might it mean if we could free the hospital, forever, from its daily operation energy costs?” Because in doing so, we could move the hospital a huge step toward sustainability, less dependent on the outside world to prop it up.

Vision: A hospital for La Gonave... powered by the sun.

We have met with electrical engineers who posess vast experience in third world hospital builds and, after studying the La Gonaveʼs unique situation, have indicated that a solar powered hospital is possible. And, after much consideration, we have decided that itʼs worth it. We will go solar. The energy requirements of the new hospital will be met “off grid”... one of the only hospitals in the world powered by the sun, Haitiʼs most abundant natural resource.

Of course it will cost. But we believe the return on investment will be substantial: it will bring transformation of an island one giant step closer.

Consider how you can invest in bringing transformation to the island of La Gonave. Whether itʼs through a personal gift, or by helping Starfysh spread the word, weʼll take all the help we can get.

We just think the precious and beautiful people of La Gonave are worth it.

For more details on this project, you may print off this project's:

• New Hospital Fact Sheet
• New Hospital Stat Sheet