Hospitainer in Colombia!

You know Hospitainer as the social enterprise which is providing health care solutions in relief situations, e.g.  after a natural disaster like an earthquake or in contexts of (post) conflict, like Syria.

Two years ago we started to work in Colombia as well. Together with the Dutch government and other Dutch enterprises, we support the Colombian government to improve the living conditions in rural areas. We call it Healthy Villages! In a healthy village people have access to health care, electricity and clean water are available and people are able to earn an income.

A healthy village starts with a health post or health center where the community can be treated, children can be vaccinated and where pregnant mothers come for antenatal care. The health facility should be self-sufficient in terms of water and electricity (solar solutions).

To improve quality and continuity of care, the staff of the health post will be able to consult doctors and other specialized staff in the hospital in the city through a satellite connection and a software application. In this regard Hospitainer works together with other Dutch partners, like Greenlink, Medrecord and Mates-In. Mates-In will build the capacity of local health professionals working in the rural areas.

This program challenges Hospitainer in finding good solutions for inaccessible areas. In Guainia department people are living in remote villages along one of the 4 rivers. Transport is only possible by boat and is hindered by rapids. It can take more than 20 days to reach the nearest hospital – a challenging and long journey – especially when you are seriously ill.

Hospitainer has designed a “Hospivessel” – a floating clinic. Brigades with 11 local health professionals are going to use this vessel to reach out to those remote villages. The team will consist of a dentist, doctor, nurses, lab technician, pharmacist and auxiliary nurses. We work closely together with the governor and health department of Guainia county and the local health services provider.

The Hospivessel and a static health post will be shipped to Colombia in October. Local transport will take another 20 days. But we are planning to inaugurate the facilities in December. This is an important moment for us.

The two facilities will serve as a pilot – so that we can learn and further develop the concept of a Healthy Village!