Together for the Goals:

State-of-the-Art Mobile Triage Unit En-Route to Rural Haitian Medical Facilities

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 09, 2022 – The Haitian Ministry of Health and Zanmi Lasante, Haiti’s largest non-government healthcare provider, are preparing to receive two state-of-the-art Mobile Triage Units (MTU’s) designed by HHI Corporation. Through a consortium of NGO and for-profit partners including World Hope International, Build Health International, Partners in Health, GSMSG, LIFT, UPS, Kestrel Liner Agencies, King Ocean, and Globus Relief, the two lifesaving, 70-ton units will be deployed from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Miami, Florida to the under-resourced Boucan-Carre Maternity Hospital in the Central Plateau and a small clinic in Hinche.

One Mobile Triage Unit was donated by HHI Corporation to World Hope International, a faith-based NGO currently partnering with Build Health International and Partners in Health on upgrades to another hospital on the Haitian island of La Gonâve. The other MTU was donated to World Hope by the Global Surgical and Medical Support Group, also known simply as GSMSG.

“A donation like the Mobile Triage Units from HHI Corporation and GSMSG are a gift of healing and hope for people who have been marginalized and left without access to life-saving resources and technology,” said John Lyon, Former CEO of World Hope International. “It is great to see corporate philanthropy at work when consortiums like this come together and companies and non-profits alike collaborate to meet Sustainable Development Goals like SDG 3, ‘Ensuring Healthy Lives and Wellbeing.’ We’re grateful for the gifts of this innovative technology and to be able to further healthcare accessibility through partnerships and relationships.”

The layout of each Mobile Triage Unit includes four patient bays with three beds each, nurses’ stations, and support equipment. Systems include uninterrupted power supply (UPS), insulated wall and ceiling panels, hospital grade flooring with welded joints, two 1,500-gallon tanks for fresh and wastewater, HVAC system with 18 air exchanges per hour, visual airflow sensors, single-pass air system, HEPA filters, seven days of power via diesel generator, and fire alarm system with dialer. It also includes a HIPAA-approved networking package to integrate with existing hospital/medical facilities communications.

The Boucan-Carre Maternity Hospital has been largely neglected in the past six years and is in need of a complete revitalization. The campus, which is quite remote because of a rough road and seasonal flooding, has very poor infrastructure. The main hospital building was damaged in the 2010 earthquake and has deteriorated since to the point where it is no longer safe to use. This building will be demolished to make way for the new Mobile Triage Unit, which will complement a new maternity building and housing that Zanmi Lasante and Build Health International completed in December 2021. Hinche, where the second MTU will be sent, is a small clinic originally built in 1936 with minimal updates since its founding. The Mobile Triage Unit will serve as a vital supplementary facility to that clinic.

“HHI Corporation is excited to partner with World Hope International, Partners in Health, Zanmi Lasante, Build Health International, and the Haitian Ministry of Health to ensure equitable access to vital healthcare,” stated Regina Hokanson, President & CEO of HHI Corporation. With COVID-19 continuing to rise in cases and the deterioration of the existing healthcare facilities in the Central Plateau, it was apparent there was a clear opportunity for us to partner and do something to help. Our MTU was designed to operate outside in temperatures of up to 120°F and is structurally designed to withstand hurricane winds, making it ideal for remote healthcare as well as emergency response situations. We truly believe this is the best system to assist the medical professionals in Haiti and are so glad to play this part.”

The Mobile Triage Unit from HHI has been trucked from Ogden, Utah, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the one donated by GSMSG will be demobilized and sent out of Miami, Florida, both through donated services by the UPS Foundation, with King Ocean, a Steamship Company, providing reduced ocean freight charges for the shipping from Ft. Lauderdale to Port au Prince, and Kestrel Liner Agencies, a Freight Forwarder, donating their compliance services for the export of the MTU. Globus Relief is donating additional medical supplies to be used by Partners in Health and Zanmi Lasante in Haiti, and LIFT is managing the logistics of the move from Utah to Haiti.