Photo: Build Health International’s Haiti construction team installs batteries for the solar grid expansion at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais.

Over ten years ago, Build Health International (BHI) designed and built Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM), a state-of-the-art public teaching hospital in central Haiti operated by the nonprofit, Partners in Health (PIH). Since then, BHI and PIH, known in Haiti as Zanmi Lasante, have partnered on dozens of facility additions and upgrades to improve healthcare access across Haiti.

HUM already has a robust solar energy system. However, this latest rendition of the solar grid expansion will more than double the production capacity, reducing a projected 2,298 tons of CO2 emissions annually and save the hospital $820,000. Furthermore, increased solar capacity will reduce the hospital’s dependence on diesel-powered generators, an especially important move during a time where fuel is unprecedently expensive or unavailable due to ongoing security issues in the country.

Overall, the savings and energy self-reliance will enable HUM to invest more in patient care, uninterrupted by political or civil unrest. The expansion is estimated to be completed in the coming months.

Read the full story published by Partners in Health here.