More than 120,000 care episodes delivered since 2006

Currently the Lamp Health Center cares for 14,000 patients each year

• 65% female, 35% male
• Patients are all ages - 40% are children
• 20-30 pregnant women are seen each week
• In addition, our monthly mobile clinic in other underserved areas provides care to an average of 230 additional people in a single day
• Community Health Workers visit house to house in the surrounding area to expand our reach, to do follow-up and public education.

The Lamp for Haiti Health Center is, despite various specialized services, a primary health care clinic. It is, however, quite different than a primary health care facility in the United States. Here, on a daily basis, the doctors must deal with severe health conditions brought on by:

• extreme poverty
• lack of proper nutrition
• lack of sanitation
• lack of appropriate health knowledge, and
• a range of life-threatening tropical diseases.

For example, over 1,300 patients per year are diagnosed with anemia, and over 50 with Type II diabetes, both conditions that are closely linked to malnutrition. We see a tremendous number of respiratory, gastro-intestinal, and genitourinary infections, illnesses that are spread and exacerbated by an unsanitary environment. For example, we see an average of 51 tuberculosis patients per year, 64 asthma patients, and 638 patients with pneumonia. Approximately 1,400 patients are diagnosed with genitourinary infection.

We also treat a great number of patients for fungal infections of the skin, worms and other parasites for the same reasons.

Approximately 800 patients are diagnosed with malaria each year, the cerebral version of which can kill a child in a few days if left untreated. Periodic surges of diseases such as cholera, dengue fever and chickungunya (“break-bone fever”) are also treated.

Laboratory and diagnostic capabilities continue to expand, helping Lamp to diagnose and treat more effectively

• 5,000 lab tests conducted per year
• 200 x-rays per year
• 300 EKGs
  
• Patients are charged 10 gourdes for examination (10 cents);  all medicines are provided free of charge

We continually optimize our pharmacy offerings and leverage partnerships to secure life-saving medications

The Lamp maintains a list of standard medicines (and laboratory tests) that are provided to all patients and these lists have been growing over time. Medicines constitute a large proportion of our costs and the Lamp has been lucky to build relationships with several large medicine-donating nonprofits that have hugely reduced our expenses in this arena. In 2018, the Lamp received $1.3 million in donated medicines. Not all medicines on our clinic list are available this way but the large majority are, and the Lamp is able to purchase the rest.

Women's health clinic impact 

• 65% of all patients at the Lamp Health Center are female
• 20-30 pregnant women come to the clinic each week
• New pregnant patients receive nine initial tests, including HIV, to detect existing conditions and to ensure the healthy development of the child.
• Approximately 70% of new patients at the women’s clinic test positive for genitourinary infection.
• Seventy percent (70%) of expectant mothers are anemic when they first come to the clinic.
• Prenatal vitamins, iron, and treatment of existing conditions are provided.  A delivery kit is given to each expectant mother.

A growing child nutrition program 

We have a dedicated nurse to supervise and expand this important, life-saving pediatric program.  We expect a minimum of 100 malnourished children will complete the child nutrition program this year.  This program eliminates the many threats to a child’s development that are caused by malnutrition, and gives the child the strength to resist other health threats.

Educational support

40 children will receive educational sponsorships through Lamp supporters for the 2018-2019 school year.  These are children who would not have been able to attend otherwise.  All school fees  are covered and sponsored children are provided with uniforms, shoes, school bags, textbooks, materials and tutoring.

We collaborate with the four schools located closest to the Lamp Health Center.  We assist with teacher training opportunities, health education workshops, and other projects.

Community development is central to all we do

The Lamp employs an all-Haitian staff on principle, utilizing the tremendous skills that are available in the country while also augmenting these skills and thus empowering the Haitian health system as a whole.

The Lamp also seeks to employ persons from the immediate neighborhood of the clinic.  Currently, 7 of 19 staff are from the local area.  Also, we prioritize local labor in all of our physical improvement projects, providing as many local jobs as possible.

Public toilets and showers benefit everyone in the community.

The Community Health Worker program has made the clinic much more accessible to all members of the community.  It provides much needed health education to the whole community in a personal, caring way.

A drainage canal, completed in 2017, has eliminated flooding in the neighborhood of the clinic, and greatly reduced mosquito breeding sites.

The Lamp is a vital community institution, where people gather and trust the care they receive.  We are a peaceful oasis of caring and hope in a very difficult environment.