As we recently announced in our last blog, C2C has been selected as a Finalist for the 2019 P3 Impact Award! The P3 Impact Award was created by Concordia, the University of Virginia Darden School Institute for Business in Society, and the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships to recognize and honor leading public-private partnerships (P3s) that improve communities around the world. 

We wanted to share with you the feature that the Darden School of Business recently published about C2C’s partnership with Haiti’s Ministry of Health on its Ideas to Action website. You can access the full feature here to learn more about how our partnership is working to deliver sustainable primary care to low-income families in Haiti through a social enterprise model. 

In the meantime, stay tuned for more news of the P3 Impact Award as we get ready to attend the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City on September 22-24. 

Thank you for your continued support!

Dear Friends, 

We are so excited to announce that C2C was recently selected as a Finalist for the 2019 P3 Impact Award for our Public-Private Partnership to deliver sustainable, primary health care with Haiti’s Ministry of Health! 

The P3 Impact Award was created by Concordia, the University of Virginia Darden School Institute for Business in Society, and the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships to recognize and honor leading public-private partnerships (P3s) that improve communities around the world. The award seeks to highlight leading practices and actionable insights in the P3 arena by any cross-sector collaboration that features public, private, nonprofit, or non-governmental organizations and addresses societal problems.

Our partnership with the Ministry of Health demonstrated many positive innovations in its design, structure, and implementation. We are thrilled to be presenting our learnings and experience with the global audience convening at the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit in New York on September 22-24.
 

The P3 Impact Award winner will be recognized on the main stage of the Concordia Annual Summit, the largest gathering alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Stay tuned for information to come about this prestigious award and C2C’s involvement! 

Thank you for your continued support of our work to bring sustainable health care to Haiti! 

During my recent trip to Haiti, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Richard, who has been at our Cité Chauvel clinic since it opened in April 2017. Dr. Richard shared with me his perspective on C2C’s clinics and the growth of the organization overall.

“A lot of things have changed since the clinic first opened,” he began, “At first, we did not have nearly as many patients. The staffing was not where it is now. We currently have a social service nurse, doctor, and lab tech [in addition to our permanent staff]. We also have a formalized relationship with the Ministry of Health now which I think is very good.”

In terms of Dr. Richard’s vision for the future of C2C’s clinical services, he has many ideas on how to improve staff training and create access to care for people who might not otherwise have it. 

“I would like to improve communication between doctors and patients in our clinics,” he explained, “because they don’t always teach that in medical school here as much as they should. If we could also partner with medical schools to improve training, it would have a broad impact on the quality of care of our clinic network and would also spread the word about C2C’s work.”

When it comes to continuing education for existing C2C staff, Dr. Richard said “I would like to establish a continuous training program with all the staff in a certain subject. There are gaps in education that I would like to fill to improve capacity. Even if the whole team met just once a year, I think it would be very beneficial.”

Dr. Richard would also like to expand access to C2C’s services even further. He told me about a patient story that particularly stuck out to him. “A nineteen-year-old came in with her baby. They were on the street and someone found them. The woman couldn’t walk, and although she had the money to get medical treatment for her child, she did not have enough to take care of herself, too. I talked to the rest of my team to see what we could do for them. The woman had gastroenteritis, so we took care of her and bought her food as well because neither of them had eaten. She got much better and so did the child because we were able to give them the medicines they needed. We sent them home very healthy. In the future, I would like to create more opportunities to help patients like that who cannot afford regular medical care.” 

Dr. Richard is clearly an integral part of the C2C team, and although he has already contributed so much to our work and to Haiti, he still has many professional goals he is working towards. “I want to continue to learn from people and be able to share my experiences with staff in the other clinics in the near future. I hope I can serve the organization in even more ways than what I’m doing now.”

We are truly lucky to have Dr. Richard as part of our team. Due to leaders like him in our clinics and in the field, we are able to assess the needs of the communities we serve and provide them with the quality care they have come to expect from C2C.

“Primary health care is rooted in a commitment to social justice and equity and in the recognition of the fundamental right to the highest attainable standard of health, as echoed in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services […]’.” 

-World Health Organization, “Primary health care,” 27 February 2019

Growing up, healthcare wasn’t something I ever had to think about. I saw a doctor once a year, a dentist twice a year, a physical therapist when my back hurt, even support for my mental health and a set braces to straighten my teeth. My school had a nurse that took care of me when I broke my ankle attempting to play basketball, and in health class, we had a sexual education unit. I didn’t do anything to earn these things and they didn’t cost my family much if anything. I only had access because I happened to be born in an area with a decent healthcare system in place. There were plenty of providers in my area (even though it was rural), my family had the money for copays and medicines, appointments could be scheduled so I didn’t have to miss school, we had our own car to get to the doctor’s office, and in general it was very easy to find the time and resources to be healthy. 

This makes me extremely privileged, a lesson that I was reminded of constantly on my first visit to Haiti this month. Though I have been with C2C for a few months, this was my first time seeing the clinics up close, and I was fortunate enough to speak with several staff members and patients. From these conversations, I quickly realized that C2C’s model for comprehensive primary care really does have the intended impact and potential to transform a healthcare landscape that is saturated with many temporary solutions. 

It’s no secret that there are a lot of NGOs in Haiti focused on healthcare, so why is primary care so important? Trust is certainly a factor. Many of C2C’s patients come to our clinics because they have family and friends that have had good experiences with our services. As Dr. Samuel noted in a prior blog, before we even open a clinic, we take the time to build a relationship with the community and inform them about our services. We believe that healthcare delivery with a focus on community forms a strong foundation for effective health systems. Unlike mobile clinics that offer free services or other providers that might only have a contract in Haiti for a few years, C2C’s clinics are here to stay; they function within a broader healthcare landscape. Our clinic staff are members of the communities they serve, so there is a level of trust that exists and which allows patients to feel comfortable seeking out care for their health concerns and thus recommending our clinics to family and friends.

The importance of the relationship between clinic and community is evidenced by the example of chronic disease. A patient might visit a mobile clinic and find out that they have hypertension, diabetes, or another disease which requires treatment for the rest of their life. That clinic may provide free medicine for a few weeks, but once it leaves the community, how does the patient treat the disease in its absence? Indeed, without proper primary care, it is difficult to effectively address patient needs long-term.

It is so clear to me from just this one trip that there is much more dignity in primary care. It’s not a handout or a temporary fix–our services become a part of our patients’ lives, a reliable center for healthcare where they can feel confident that they will be welcomed, respected, listened to and treated with a friendly smile and genuine care. 

I heard from several patients who remarked that our “one-stop-shop” approach has been effective for providing treatment while also being time- and cost-effective. One of our nurses commented that at other clinics and hospitals she has worked, patients would come in for their consultation, but would not follow up to see through the rest of their treatment. At C2C, consultation, lab tests, and prescription distribution occur all in one visit which improves adherence to treatment. She also spoke to the power of our electronic medical records (EMR) system, explaining that at other health facilities, a patient may come in for treatment three days in a row, but there would be a different record for each visit. With our EMR system, she can track the progress of the patient and provide better care.

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As our clinic network grows and expands, I am excited to see how C2C’s model can scale across Haiti and beyond. I have come away from this trip with renewed gratitude for the access I have to healthcare in my own life and the confidence that our organization will continue to improve community access to affordable, reliable, high-quality healthcare in Haiti.

Dear Friends,

As we begin the work on rehabilitating the clinic site in Roche Plate, we wanted to give you a behind-the-scene look into C2C’s process for opening a new clinic! 

Step 1- Agreement with the Ministry of Health:

During the first stage in the process of opening a new clinic, members of our Haiti leadership team meet with the Departmental Director of Health to review the list of clinics that the ministry would like us to take on. Our team visits each clinic and meets with the staff to get a sense of what the partnership will look like for C2C, the existing clinic staff, and the community.

Step 2- Market Research & Analysis:

A key component of C2C’s process for choosing which clinic to renovate is to first review the Ministry reports of potential clinics we can improve through our Public-Private Partnership. Then, we compile and analyze data about the clinics and the communities they serve. After lengthy internal discussions, C2C works closely with the Ministry to weigh the pros and cons of each clinic site, taking into account the Ministry’s priorities, needs of the catchment area of the site, and renovation costs. We also make sure to survey the economic conditions of the communities in order to set our service rates fairly and to consider the needs of the community. Once this process is over, we make the final decision about which clinic to rehabilitate.

Step 3- Clinic Site Renovations:

This is the stage where the clinic transformation truly begins. Our Haiti team gets bids from local contractors for the renovation project. Once we choose the contractor, the physical renovation begins to take place: we ensure that the building is structurally safe and meets the needs of our clinic services; the waiting area is welcoming; and that the entire facility provides patients with a high-quality experience that they will feel comfortable returning to for all of their primary care needs.

Step 4- Staff Training:

At C2C, we want to make sure our staff is able to provide the high-quality care people have come to expect from us. We integrate the core value of “bon acceuil” into our visual brand by adopting a tagline: Sante’w se Priyorite’n (Your Health is Our Priority). We make sure to weave this tagline by infusing every client interaction with our clinics, which starts with our friendly staff. We also train all staff members on our electronic medical records system to support our mission in providing efficient, high-quality care.

Step 5- Community Relations:

We believe it is of utmost importance to build trust between C2C and the community that we aim to serve, and we do this through community building. We meet with local political leaders, elders, local priests, directors of schools, and many personalities that play a big role in their community to build our working partnership. While community members may have visited the clinic before as a public dispensary, we aim to improve upon their past experiences by providing high-quality primary care services that are also affordable and convenient, along with our accessible services such as our on-site pharmacy and laboratory. Also, through our community health program, our agents educate community members on the importance of primary care and how C2C works to respond to their needs.

Step 6- Grand Opening:

Once our clinic is fully renovated, our staff is trained, and the community is familiar with our services, we add the finishing touches such as ensuring that our pharmacy is fully-stocked and that we have all of the necessary supplies and equipment. On opening day, we have a welcome ceremony to celebrate our new clinic as well as our new partnership with the community!

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, C2C’s next clinic will be our first in the Northeast Department. This is an exciting time for our organization, as we prove how our model can scale across Haiti and beyond. The clinic, located in Roche Plate, is projected to open this fall. Stay tuned for more updates!

Dear Friends,

As many of you may know, protests against government corruption, civil unrest, and fuel shortages have threatened stability in Haiti for the last several months. However, C2C’s clinics remain open and our staff is continuing to work uninterrupted, delivering high-quality care to our patients during this time of adversity.

We are even moving forward with opening a new clinic in a brand new department in Haiti! We recently finalized our partnership with the Northeast Department and will be working with the Ministry of Health to renovate the newest C2C clinic in the community of Roche Plate. We are grateful to our staff who continue to work diligently despite the obstacles.

As we begin the work on rehabilitating the clinic site in Roche Plate, we wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes look into C2C’s process for opening a new clinic. Stay tuned as Dr. Samuel Bernard, C2C’s Chief Operating Officer, guides us through this process next on the blog!

This week at C2C, we celebrated World Immunization Week. Our community health workers work hard to immunize infants in the communities they live in and serve to keep children healthy and thriving.

 

Just recently, I had the pleasure of attending the annual Unite for Sight Global Health and Innovation conference at Yale University in New Haven, NY. Every year, the conference brings together the world’s most interesting global health professionals, innovators, and students to discuss new and innovative policies, practices technologies, and models of care. The conference highlighted topics ranging from leadership in NGOs to maternal and child health practices and many in between.

 

One of the talks I attended was presented by the energetic Agnes Binagwaho, former Minister of Health of Rwanda and current Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. She talked about the moral obligation of optimism to continue the fight to reach to the sustainable development goals in 2030. She presented the Rwanda Universal Health Care model that has led to many success stories, for a country that was not long ago completely decimated by a genocide and political crisis. In particular, she spoke to the importance of having healthcare reach all families and households with the help of trained and paid community health workers. Rwanda has a network of over 50 000 Community Health Workers (CHWs) that have the ability to provide primary care and referrals.

 

C2C has dedicated team of community health staff at each clinic to help us in our efforts to provide quality health services to the community. By reaching families in the community and at home, they act as an extension of our clinical services to remind patients of their follow-up appointments, immunization schedules, or family-planning services. They also conduct home visits for families with children suffering from anemia and acute respiratory infections, and help them to learn more about these conditions and the importance of the treatment. They also do many outreach activities for hypertension respiratory infections and malnutrition, hoping to reach people that would not have otherwise visited the clinics and provide them with care that has the potential to prevent major complications. CHWs are an integral part of C2C’s ability to offer high quality services in and outside of the clinic. They are especially key to optimal infant immunization coverage.

 

This was my second time attending the Global Health and Innovation conference. The opportunity to meet with other global health and international development professionals with a passion for providing opportunities and improving the health of disadvantaged people worldwide brings me inspiration and affirms that C2C’s commitment to bring low-cost quality health care to Haiti is on the right track.

 

 

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled to share with you our 2018 successes in our digital Annual Report below!

 

This year our new partnership with Haiti’s Ministry of Health, our expanding clinic network, and the growing scope of our services to poor and low-income communities in Haiti has doubled our reach!

The year ahead is ambitious: we will double the size of our service delivery footprint in Haiti and we are expanding our clinic network to a new department to ensure that our services are available to vulnerable communities in other regions of Haiti!

Your support and interest in our work to build a sustainable health system in Haiti has been so important. We’re so grateful to have you in our community and I look forward to sharing news about our expansion in the year ahead.

C2C staff providing high-quality care closer to home