St Damien Paediatric Hospital

NPH runs the only children’s hospital in the whole of Haiti, a country of 11 million people.

Watch this video to find out how we are saving children’s lives.

How it started?

Fr. Rick Frechette started our NPH children’s home in Haiti in 1987. Many children were arriving at the home with a mystery terminal illness. With help from Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity, NPH founded Saint Damien, a hospice for children with HIV/AIDS.

Medical doctor and priest, Fr. Rick Frechette founded our NPH children’s home in Haiti in 1987. He worked with the Sisters of Charity to set up the St Damien children’s hospice, for children with HIV/AIDS. Desperate to find medical solutions for these children, Fr. Rick decided to study medicine in his mid-40s.

As a doctor and astute fundraiser Fr. Rick was able to make his dream a reality – he opened the St Damien Paediatric Hospital in 2006. Our hospital provides world-class affordable healthcare to disadvantaged children in Haiti. Many families travel long-distances to reach our hospital, as we offer services that aren’t available in other hospitals. For example, we have the only paediatric heart surgeon in Haiti.

After the devastating 2010 earthquake, which killed over 200,000 people, our hospital programmes were expanded to help more children and families. Our hospital now has 14 wards and 225 beds.

Latest updates from our hospital

What we do:

  • We are saving lives in Haiti – We treated 65,087 people in 2022.
  • We help children with cancer – We are the only hospital in the country which treats children who have cancer.
  • We treat infectious diseases – We have recently set up a cholera ward given the current cholera crisis in Haiti.
  • We help deliver babies – We received 3168 pregnant women in our maternity ward in 2022.
  • We help the poorest of Haiti’s children – We help kids who are affected by malnutrition, cholera, TB and HIV.

In Haiti 1 in 10 children do not make it to their 5th birthday. With your help we can prevent another mother from losing her child.

In 2022 we had to turn away 2952 pregnant women. Any support you can give ensures that we can reach more women and children and in need.

How can you support our children’s hospital?

Be a Lifesaver for as little as $15 per month and you can help support our life-saving work.

$15 per month: Supplies lab tests for 4 children each month who are admitted to our malnutrition ward.

$40 per month: Supports one child per year who is admitted to our cholera ward.

Become a Lifesaver