Hospital Albert Schweitzer Of Deschapelles, Haiti Receives A $2.5 Million gift From Bill & Melinda Gates

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Hospital Albert Schweitzer of Deschapelles, Haiti today announced a $2.5 million gift from Bill and Melinda Gates to improve health and survival of women of childbearing age in the 610-square-mile district of Haiti's Artibonite Valley. This grant is the largest single grant in the organization's 44-year history.

"This generous gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation signals a new level of hope and health for the women of Haiti's Artibonite Valley," said William Dunn, executive vice president of the Grant Foundation of the Hospital Albert Schweitzer. "This grant will support the Women's Health Program, further enabling Hospital Albert Schweitzer to fulfill its mission of providing women's health services at the hospital and expanding to reach women of the Artibonite Valley with preventive care, health and family planning education, and better prenatal care."

"Bill and Melinda are committed to providing equal access to modern medicine for women and children worldwide," said Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Supporting the efforts of Hospital Albert Schweitzer is just one step – but an important step – in improving the lives of women in the global community."

The hospital raises $3.5 million in annual private contributions -- primarily through the Sarasota-based Grant Foundation -- to sustain its medical services and outreach programs. The 108-bed acute-care hospital with two operating rooms, a laboratory, x-ray services, and a pharmacy sees up to 300 outpatients a day. The 600-member staff is joined by more than 20 visiting specialists in fields such as ophthalmology, orthopedics and neurology who serve for one or more weeks each year.

Additional support is provided by volunteers from service organizations such as Rotary and Lions Club International from France, India and the Netherlands who share their veterinary, engineering, medical, and hydraulics skills with Hospital Albert Schweitzer's community health and development outreach programs.

The Hospital Albert Schweitzer was built in 1956, fulfilling a dream of its founders, Dr. Larimer Mellon and his wife Gwen. Dr. Mellon, who had left his family home in Pittsburgh as a young man to become a rancher in Arizona, became inspired by a 1948 Life magazine article about Albert Schweitzer and his hospital in Gabone, West Africa. Dr. Mellon began correspondence with Dr. Schweitzer, through which they shared their concern for humanity, along with the love of music and respect for nature. With Dr. Schweitzer's encouragement, Mellon attended Tulane Medical School which offered special training in tropical medicine. During his senior year, he visited Haiti to complete a malaria research project, and discovered a setting for what would become his life's efforts.

Dr. Mellon died August 1989 but Gwen Mellon has remained in Deschapelles, providing continuing inspiration and leadership for the hospital staff.