Project HOPE and Order of Malta Expanding Quality Health Care for Women and Children in the Dominican Republic

Project HOPE, a global health and humanitarian assistance organization, announced today that it will develop a third clinic in a network of women’s and children’s health facilities in the Dominican Republic in partnership with the Dominican Association of the Order of Malta (ADOM) in an effort to reduce maternal and child mortality.  The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Freddy Hidalgo Nunez, Order of Malta Committee, will meet HOPE’s President and CEO, Dr. John P. Howe III, on Thursday. Dr. Howe will also attend a groundbreaking ceremony with local dignitaries at the site of the new clinic in Haina on Thursday.

The clinic will offer primary care for women and children and will be staffed by a 40-strong team providing pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, general medicine, maternal health, vaccinations, pharmacy and lab services for underserved communities in the Province of San Cristóbal.  Experts say a child in the Dominican Republic is six times more likely to die before the age of two than a child in the United States and a mother faces a 30 times greater risk of dying during childbirth than a mother giving birth in the U.S.

The first two clinics, established in the Herrera District of Santo Domingo and the rural town of Monte Plata, provide outstanding models for patient-centered health care which have been recognized by the Dominican Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as highly efficient and replicable for preventive health care throughout the region. The Herrera Clinic has been cited for its “innovative, sustainable model of primary health attention” and for the quality of services offered.

Project HOPE provides the technical expertise and management supervision to the ADOM-operated clinics which, in addition to offering patient care and preventive health education, serve as training sites for nurses and other health care workers. The clinics have also become notable sites for community outreach and public health education and have achieved the following successes:

• Almost two million medical services have been provided to over 100,000 women and children.
• Community outreach supports disease awareness and prevention.
• The clinics have introduced a so-called “5-Star Program,” which rewards pregnant women and mothers of children under 5 years old, who attend all prenatal checkups and pediatric checkups, with donated gift baskets that provide items for newborn care.

“I am delighted to be in the Dominican Republic for the groundbreaking of the Haina Clinic, which will build on the successes of the first two clinics we established here in a treasured partnership with the ADOM.  The clinics have significantly improved the quality of care and education for new mothers and their children, and HOPE’s history of providing donated medicines and medical equipment to the country has indeed enhanced the quality of health care for families here,” said Dr. John P. Howe III, President and CEO, Project HOPE.

Since 1996, HOPE has provided over $180 million in donated medicines and medical supplies to the country.  In December 2007, HOPE delivered more than $32 million of lifesaving vaccines and other medicines – enough vaccines to treat one million people in one of the largest donations of medicine to a single country in HOPE’s 55-year history.

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, as well as conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 35 countries.  www.projecthope.org