June 2010 - Containers to Clinics (C2C) and Damco formed a partnership to transport the pilot C2C primary care unit to Haiti for health infrastructure relief. The clinic consists of two recycled shipping containers modified into a two-exam room, pharmacy, and laboratory facility. Damco has provided all overland and sea shipment of the C2C unit to Haiti where it will be installed as an outpatient prenatal and primary paediatric care centre at Grace Children’s Hospital.
Stack Design Build manufactured the containers-turned-clinic in Cranston, Rhode Island. The clinic was transported by tilt-bed truck to Brooklyn, New York, where it left port aboard the Maas Trader 46 on June 9 bound for Port-au-Prince. The clinic arrived in Port-au-Prince on June 14, and after clearing customs by consignment to USAID:Haiti, it made a last, overland trip to Grace Children’s Hospital.
"This partnership is a terrific example of two organisations sharing similar principles of mission including innovation, sustainability and essential human rights,” explained Elizabeth Sheehan, Founder and President of C2C. “By providing pro bono shipping of container clinics, Damco exports the opportunity for better health to the women and children of Port-au-Prince."
Prior to the earthquake on January 12, Haiti had the worst maternal and infant mortality and morbidity ratios in the Western Hemisphere. The earthquake exacerbated these challenges to health service access; with destroyed health facilities, loss of productivity, food insecurity, and extreme water and sanitation challenges, the health situation is at the tipping point from bad to worse. The recovery of the health sector will depend heavily on the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and the establishment of replacement and auxiliary health centres throughout the country. C2C is well positioned to respond to the imperative for immediate and quality primary care facilities.
The Damco-C2C partnership highlights the unique value of using shipping containers as health facilities. "Damco is pleased to be able to partner with Containers to Clinics in delivering these much-needed shipping container health clinics to the people of Haiti. We thank them for the opportunity to assist in this worthy initiative," said Todd Renehan, Chief Commercial Officer for Damco, North America.