In Haiti, the university hospital in Port-au-Prince is working to reopen its doors after law enforcement freed it from armed gangs. No date has yet been set for the resumption of activities at the country’s largest hospital, which has been under occupation for five months, and the damage has yet to be assessed.
2 min
With our correspondent in Port-au-PrinceMarie-André Belange
Since the repeated attacks by bandits at the end of February on the university hospital in Port-au-Prince, the building located in the heart of the Haitian capital, where many Haitians came to seek treatment, has fallen into the hands of armed gangs. An intervention by Haitian National Policeon July 7, allowed the general hospital to be regained. A meeting took place on Thursday, July 11, regarding its reopening.
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” At the moment we cannot yet give a date for the reopening, we are planning a visit to the site “, explains the hospital’s medical director, Dr. Jude Milcé. The situation is still unstable, so there is no question of taking security risks. ” For security reasons, we cannot say the date of this visit either, but we are in contact with the director of the national police in order to carry out this visit with the hospital officials and the Ministry of Health on the hospital site. “, the doctor continues.
The extent of the damage is unknown.
In fact, this reopening requires an evaluation, because it has been five months since health personnel and patients were forced to abandon this hospital center in the face of the fury of armed gangs. VS‘is a hospital, we need inputs to work and to know if the materials are availablelists Jude Milcé, who is moving forward blindly. During these months of dysfunction, we do not know the extent of the damage. The first thing is to make an assessment. Only then can we give the population a date for the resumption of activities at the hospital. “, he concludes.
In the meantime, police are staying put and expanding their security perimeter around the general hospital, according to the hospital’s medical director.
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