Hospitals Of Hope

Les Cayes, Haiti is the site of the original Clinic in a Can—a self-contained medical/dental clinic built in the back of a 48’ semi-trailer donated to Hospitals of Hope by the Love Box Company.

Hospitals of Hope is building more Clinics in a Can in response to Haiti's recent earthquake.  Learn more.

The idea for a Clinic in a Can was born of the many requests for aid that we receive from foreign nationals.  Several years ago, a Kenyan man shared with us how his sister had died on the way to the hospital during her first pregnancy. She had come home to have her first baby, as is customary in Kenya. While home, she began running a fever, and the family decided to take her to the nearest hospital, which was ten miles away. Taking their only method of transportation, the family took turns pushing and pulling their ailing relative in a wheelbarrow. Somewhere between her village and the hospital, she died.

This story inspired Hospitals of Hope’s founder, Michael Wawrzewski, to find a solution, and the solution that he found was the Clinic in a Can—a clinic that could be built in Wichita and then shipped anywhere in the world.

Hospitals of Hope partnered with Jean Eustache, a Wichita nurse born and raised in Haiti, to send the Clinic in a Can to Les Cayes.  Two of Hospitals of Hope’s long-time supporters, Kyle Stevens and Myron Smith, headed up this daunting task and after two years of design and one year of construction, our Clinic in a Can was completed.  The trailer is a self-contained clinic with a medical exam room, dental operatory suite, laboratory, and storage room. A diesel generator provides power for all the electrical equipment, providing water, compressed air, and suction for all the clinic rooms.

The Clinic in a Can serves as a base for medical and dental teams that visit Haiti, providing free treatment for area residents.  If you are interested in joining us on a trip to Haiti, check out the trip schedule.