World News
Construction to begin soon on Catholic-backed clinic in Haiti
Published: December 18, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- After nearly 10 years of working through three different Haitian government administrations, the Visitation Clinic and Hospital project in Petite Riviere de Nippes Haiti is under way. "We're thrilled that we finally, after a long struggle to get the Haitian government to approve both the clinic and the hospital, can at least begin construction of the clinic. We've been working on this for a long time," said Theresa Patterson, executive director of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas. It is being built in an area of Haiti where there is essentially no health care for 254,000 people. The facility will serve the region's primary care needs but also will be a specialty referral center for the entire country of Haiti. There is only one doctor for every 8,000 Haitians. The average life expectancy for women is 51 years; for men it's 48. Ninety-nine out of every 1,000 babies die before ever reaching childhood. Patterson is hopeful construction of the clinic will be completed by July or August 2007.
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