We are thrilled to report that we have opened our first satellite clinic, in the mountain area of Villa, a 90 minute ride by car or a 10 hour walk from our hospital in Fond des Blancs.  We partnered with the Mennonite Missionaries living in the area who funded the building and equipment.  St. Boniface is providing the staff, medical supplies, and daily oversight of clinic operations.  A doctor and two nurses will work  Monday through Friday and a midwife will visit regularly for prenatal care.  

We were fortunate to have received the funding for the operations of the clinic through the US government HIV/AIDS grant we received last year (see story).  In addition to primary care for the surrounding area this clinic will provide HIV/AIDS testing and treatment.  As the people accessing healthcare through the clinic grows it is our hope that we will expand more of our community health programs to the Villa area, including our nutrition program for malnourished children and our health education programs.

What a wonderful convenience for the people of the area.  It is a tremendous hardship for them to have to walk for so many hours over difficult roads to receive the care that they need.  They are so grateful for this service!

This is the first of what we hope will be several clinics to serve the poor in our area and expand access to healthcare.  The goal is to have a health network with the hospital as the centerpoint and the outlying satellite clinics spread around the hospital.  The location of the next clinic has been identified as Moulliage Fouquet, where we have one of our fishing villages.  We are searching for funding for both the building and operations of our next clinic.  Hopefully we will be celebrating the opening of that clinic next year!